Unexpected
by JadedNightmares
Summary: It was the start of another school year for Ryou, and he was less than looking forward to it. With no real friends apart from his brother, Bakura, this year seemed to be the same as the many others he had endured. Until something unexpected happened. Deathshipping and Thiefshipping.
1. Stranger Danger?

**A/N: Basically I have written this because there is not enough deathshipping on this site, and I have decided to do something about it hehe**

**Plus Ryou is so cute XD so I hope you all enjoy! **

**Just so you guys know, I refer to Yami Marik as Melvin ^.^**

**Name: ****Unexpected **

**Description: ****It was the start of another school year for Ryou, and he was less than looking forward to it. With no real friends apart from his brother, Bakura, this year seemed to be the same as the many others he had endured. Until something unexpected happened.**

**Rating: ****M to be safe.**

**Pairings:**** Ryou x Yami Marik (deathshipping) **

**Yami Bakura x Marik (thiefshipping)**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, if I did this kind of stuff would have happened…a lot..**

* * *

The warm autumn sun shone through the cracks in the blinds signalling the days begin. It was the 4th of September, meaning the start of a new term at school - Ryou was less than looking forward to it.

Sighing, he slowly sat up in his bed, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Usually he was a morning person but today he just didn't have the energy. Crawling from his bed he made his way to the bathroom down the hall, only to discover it was locked, which surprised him. His brother was never up before him. Ever! How did he know it was his brother? Simple, his father was in Egypt again. It was rare for them to spend more than a month with their father, due to the fact he was away so much with work. His father's absence didn't bother him much, if anything it taught him to be independent.

Ryou leant against the wall and waited for Bakura to finish. He was just dosing off when his brother slammed the door open, missing Ryou's face by inches.

"What's wrong with you?" Ryou huffed crossing his arms.

"It should be a crime to be up this early!" Bakura grumbled. Ryou didn't bother responding but instead walked past his brother into the bathroom to get ready.

He kept his clothing simple with a blue and white stripped top, denim jeans and a light over coat. Ryou walked downstairs and sat across the table to his brother who was wearing a white tee-shirt with a black, open shirt on top and black trousers. Bakura still seemed to be in a bad mood.

"Come on 'Kura cheer up! The first day back is always the easiest don't worry!" Ryou chirped sending his brother a small smile. Bakura looked up at his brother and if looks could kill, Ryou would most certainly be dead.

"I will not bloody cheer up Ryou! Mornings are meant to be spent in bed, and afternoons are meant for terrorising the public. So stop being so happy its driving me crazy!" and with that Bakura grabbed his bag from the counter and walked out of the door.

Rolling his eyes at his overly dramatic brother, Ryou too left the house, and headed for the bus stop.

* * *

The air was much cooler than Ryou had thought it would be, clutching his coat tighter he made to catch up with the head of white hair in front of him.

"Bakura! Wait!" Ryou yelled quickening his pace; it seemed the boy didn't hear his brother's shouts. Either that or he was ignoring his brother, which seemed more than likely. Ryou saw Bakura stop a few feet ahead. Knowing he had reached the bus stop, Ryou hurried over to his brother. They stood and waited for the bus in silence. It bothered Ryou how him and his brother hardly ever talked to each other. Whenever they got into a proper conversation it was actually quite enjoyable, but seeing as his brother was almost always in an 'everything and everyone is pissing me off' sort of mood, they very rarely experienced a conversation that lasted for more than 3 sentences. Ryou actually wouldn't mind all that much, but Bakura was really his only friend. Sure he occasionally spoke with Yugi and his friends, but Ryou never really went anywhere with them. In all honesty, he felt quite self-conscious around them. They were always together, sharing inside jokes and laughing, whilst he sat there feeling out of place. This was one of the reasons he, and his brother ate alone at lunch. He wished he had a proper friend at school, someone he could talk to freely and who wouldn't judge what he had to say. Someone who he wouldn't feel self-conscious with and would accept his slightly girly tendencies. The likely hood of that happening though, was very slim.

He felt a slight poke in his left arm. Being taken out of his thoughts and back into reality, Ryou looked up and saw his brother standing with his arms folded.

"Well?" he snapped

"Well what?"

"Are you going to get on the bus or stand there all day?" the taller teen replied. Ryou looked slightly confused, before looking upwards and noticing the double decker bus pulled up in front of him. The driver had an impatient scowl on his face.

"Oh, yes." He hopped onto the bus, paying the driver and taking his usual seat at the front. Ryou was just getting comfy when something caught his attention.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" a gruff British voice sounded from behind him. Groaning, Ryou turned around to see Bakura, arms folded with a scowl, staring at another boy who had evidently sat in his seat. Ryou couldn't make out the boy's face but he could see his spiky blonde hair. He had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

"Who wants to know?" came the voice, it was deep, almost as deep as his brother's.

"I'm Bakura, and that happens to be my seat."

"I don't see your name on it."

"Listen buddy, you don't want to get on the wrong side of me! It wouldn't end well for you"

The other boy started to get up and Ryou could see his appearance much clearer. He was slightly taller than Bakura, but not by much. He was wearing a tight black short sleeved shirt with cargo pants. His skin was tanned and his eyes were a dark shade of purple. His facial expression made him look insane, like he was enjoying messing with Bakura and didn't care what would happen if things turned out badly. It was almost as if he was hoping things would end badly. He let out a laugh that only proved him to be more mentally ill than Ryou first thought.

"Really now? You don't look that scary. Actually you look like a kitten." The other boy's eyes turned mad. It scared Ryou a little. Maybe Bakura had met his match?

Bakura's eyes widened before going back into fine slits. Ryou knew that look, Bakura was getting madder by the minute. He thought it was in his best interest to stop the fight when someone else stood up. The boy was almost identical to the other; except his hair was a lot calmer and his eyes were lighter. He wore a light purple top that revealed his midriff, black trousers and multiple pieces of gold jewellery. He walked over to the scene with a very calm expression, almost like this was an everyday occurrence. He began to speak to the other boy.

"Melvin," he sighed "Not on the first day, sister would not be pleased if you got suspended."

Melvin sat back down on the seat causing Bakura to growl. The boy who had managed to calm down the wild teen turned to face Bakura for the first time.

"Sorry about my brother he can be a pain in the ass sometimes. Can't you just sit somewhere else, for today at least?" Ryou was definitely not expecting Bakura's reaction. Knowing how his brother did not like to be told what to do, he thought he would refuse and start a fight with the identical boys but instead, he stared at the smaller boy before nodding and going to find an empty seat, the only one being next to Ryou. Moving his bag to let his brother sit down Ryou gave him a questioning look.

"What?" Bakura turned to Ryou who was still staring at his brother.

"Nothing it's just, I wasn't expecting you to do as you were told," he raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"Yeah well, there's no point in arguing, were almost at school anyway," Bakura snapped, quickly turning to look straight ahead, folding his arms. Ryou didn't bother replying and as usual, they sat in silence for the remainder of the journey.

* * *

Stepping off the bus, Ryou took a look at the building he was so familiar with. Walking through the large double doors he headed to his form to receive his time-table for the year.

Pushing the door open his form tutor greeted him. She was a hyper-active lady who wore bright colours and always had a smile on her face, today was no exception.

"Ryou, Did you have a good summer?!"

"Y-yes miss," it didn't matter how many times Ryou spoke to a teacher, no matter how friendly, he was always nervous.

"That's good! Well, here's your timetable!" Ryou nodded before sitting in his usual seat. He and Bakura weren't in the same form so he would have to wait to find out which lessons his brother had with him. Unfolding the piece of paper, he nervously looked at the lessons he had today.

"Art, History, Chemistry, Gym and Maths, not a bad day" he smiled to himself before folding his timetable up, and placing it in his bag.

His form tutor was at the front of the room talking animatedly to another student. Ryou hardly knew the people in his form and none of them bothered to talk to him. So he sat in silence, arms folded on the table resting his head. His thoughts wandered to the bus ride this morning. No one had ever challenged his brother, he had a bad reputation and unfortunate things happened to those who ticked him off. _Very_ unfortunate, he shuddered at a particular memory in which a student had actually been put in a coma because of his brother's temper. Everyone steered clear of Bakura, never getting in his way in fear of ending up like one of his many hospitalised victims. Did this mean someone worse than his brother had started at this school? Ryou shuddered at the thought. He had the privilege of being brothers with the worst feared boy at school; his brother protected him instead of beating him. What would happen if Melvin used Ryou for a punching bag? If he was tougher than Bakura, he would be defenceless! No, he was thinking way too much into this. It was Melvin's first day after all, how could he know of Bakura's reputation? He couldn't.

The bell rang drawing Ryou out of his thoughts for the second time that day. Standing up from his desk he swiftly made his way to Art.

* * *

Bakura strode down the halls of his school with his usual scowl planted on his face. The younger students looked terrified as he marched past them, giving them an unnecessary glare as if to say all of his problems were their fault. To say the least, he was fuming. Who did that Melvin guy think he was? Coming onto his territory and acting like the boss! Growling to himself, he swung open the door to his form when something caught his attention. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," his eyes fixed on a certain blonde haired male who was, yet again sat in his seat.

Said blonde looked up and smirked, "Well hello there kitty"

If it was possible, Bakura was even angrier than before. Managing to keep his voice relatively calm, Bakura spoke, "Get out of my seat Melvin."

"Oh I'm afraid I can't do that, you see I'm quite comfortable here. Plus the teacher said there was no seating chart, so my dear kitty I'm afraid you shall have to find another seat." Melvin looked up with a smug look on his face, flashing his sharp canines in a toothy grin.

Bakura was about to retaliate when the teacher interrupted.

"Bakura, will you sit down." His form tutor was a strict old man. He wore a suit that strained against his overgrown stomach and his grey hair was combed over. Reluctantly, Bakura slid in the chair next to Melvin as his form tutor handed him his timetable. Opening the folded piece of paper, he read the lessons he would have for the rest of the day.

"Maths, History, English, Gym and Biology, what a shitty day," he grumbled, before roughly shoving his time table into his bag. He leant back in his chair and waited for the bell signalling the start of first period. The sooner today was over, the better. Bakura had always hated school; he found it to be a pointless waste of his time, time he could be using to do much more, _interesting _activities. Half of the stuff they learned he would never use in his future so why bother in the first place? His brother was always nagging him to try his best and get good grades, but honestly Bakura didn't give a shit about how well he did. He knew he was smart, why should he need a piece of paper to tell him that? He had tried to explain this to Ryou, but he didn't pay any attention. Sure his brother was shy and quiet, but he could be a stubborn pain in the ass when he wanted to be.

Sighing, he leant back further in his chair, swinging his legs onto the table and closing his eyes. Finally, he could get some peace and quiet…or so he thought.

"Hey, Fuzz-head," Bakura tried to ignore the annoying voice that evidently belonged to Melvin, but he wasn't giving up.

"Fluff ball? Snow White? Snow ball?" the increasingly annoying, and not to mention girly, nicknames kept coming, but Bakura managed to ignore them, closing his eyes even tighter.

Suddenly, the room became silent. He didn't know whether to open his eye with apprehension or be relieved and go back to resting. Choosing the latter of the two, he relaxed back into his chair, content that he had shown the other who was in charge. Melvin had obviously figured out he was fighting a losing battle, and backed down. Bakura couldn't help the smug look that crept on to his face as he thought this, but it quickly disappeared.

"BAKURA!" Melvin screamed in his ear, shoving Bakura out of his chair in the process. He landed on the floor with a thump, the only sound being Melvin's maniacal laughter.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Bakura snapped, utterly annoyed with the obvious low intelligence Melvin had.

"Well, you were ignoring me, what else was I supposed to do? Anyway that's not the point, where's room 1?" Melvin said in such a casual tone, it only infuriated Bakura further.

Room 1...why did that sound so familiar? Thinking hard for a moment, Bakura finally realised, him and Melvin were in the same room. This was just the bloody icing on the cake! If the day kept up like this, Bakura was sure he would have a mental breakdown.

"Just follow me, but don't bother me," he snapped and started standing up, just as the bell rang.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Melvin growled back at the sudden demand.

"Listen, you psycho, if you want to find your goddamn room, follow me!" and with that Bakura stood up and left, not bothering to check whether Melvin was following or not.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there it is! The first chapter! Sorry if anyone seems OOC! I'll try and update weekly, but with all the school work, and the fact I have the attention span of a goldfish there might be a few delays…but I am determined to finish this! **

**Special thanks to 'My Soundless Dream' for the artwork to go with this story! For anyone who's interested her name on deviant art is Mai717**

**Hope you enjoyed! XD**


	2. An Interesting Morning

**A/N: Hey everyone! Just wanted to say a thank you to all of you who took the time to review/favourite/follow this story! It gave me inspiration to write this quicker! So without further ado, here is the second chapter!**

* * *

Admiring the newly decorated walls of the school, Ryou sped down the hall in search of his new art room. He knew the school quite well, but the room he had been allocated to, he had never been in before. He wandered down the multi-coloured corridors, finding the room surprisingly quickly. He frowned slightly when he saw his class had gone in. He had never been late to a lesson before! Sheepishly opening the door, he stepped inside, walking over to who he guessed to be the teacher.

"Um, Sir?" he said nervously, not wanting to make the teachers bad books on the first day. The man turned around and Ryou was greeted by an extremely colourful looking man. He wore an apron that had multiple paint splatters on it, over what Ryou could only guess were normal blue jeans. His hair was brunet and it stuck out at different angles.

"Good morning young man! Who may you be?" the man grinned what he must have thought to be a friendly smile, but it only made Ryou more nervous than he already was.

"R-Ryou S-sir,"

"Ahh Ryou! Welcome to the art class! Grab a seat anywhere in the room so we can begin." Nodding, Ryou scanned the room in search of a seat. Seeing one near the back of the room, he made his way over to the desk. Dropping his bag down he turned to face the person next to him. Seeing the mess of blonde hair and tanned skin, he started to panic thinking it was Melvin. That boy absolutely terrified Ryou! He looked like a complete psychopath! He felt his heart beat quicken as he took another glimpse at the boy, he was relieved to find the softer, calmer boy sitting next to him. He was a lot less intimidating. His breathing and heart quickly returned to normal as the other boy turned around to greet him.

"Hey!" the boy smiled before it was replaced by a quizzical look. "You look familiar…have we met before?" the boys eyebrows furrowed in concentration, Ryou let out a soft chuckle.

"No we haven't but I believe you've met my twin, Bakura."

"Bakura…? Oh! You mean the guy who had an argument with my brother on the bus!"

"Yes, sorry about that, he does have quite the temper," Ryou frowned at this as he said it, causing the other boy to laugh.

"It's fine. Melvin isn't exactly the calmest person on the planet either. I'm Marik by the way. Marik Ishtar." Marik held his hand out and Ryou shook it.

"I'm Ryou," he said smiling at the other boy before the teacher started the lesson.

"Good morning class! And welcome to your first art lesson of the year! My name's Mr. Sharp," he smiled enthusiastically before continuing, "today I'd like you all to show me your skills, so I can see which areas we need to work on to turn you all into little artists! You may do anything you want for the next hour! Supplies are at the front, I look forward to seeing your skills!" he sat down at his desk for what seemed like a few seconds before jumping up and bouncing around again.

Climbing out of his chair, Ryou went to the front to grab a few different sized paint brushes and a variety of colours. He loved to paint and was quite good if he did say so himself. His father and brother were the only people who had seen his work, and they never really took any notice. His father was always busy with his job and Bakura, well; he never cared about anything so it wasn't surprising. This was why Ryou chose art this year, in hope that he would get some praise for his efforts. He wasn't attention seeking, quite the opposite actually. He just wished someone would say something positive to him; he really tried hard with his work and wanted some recognition for once in his life!

He went back to his desk, as he started setting up his equipment, he looked over to see what Marik was doing. He had opted for a pencil drawing, and by the looks of what he had done so far, he was quite a good drawer.

"What's that you're drawing?" Ryou questioned whilst pouring some paint into his palette.

"I'm drawing one of the views I had whilst in Egypt," he looked at Ryou innocently. He couldn't believe him and that psychopath Melvin came from the same family.

"Whoa you come from Egypt! That's so cool!" Ryou's eyes lit up with excitement, he'd never met someone so exotic before! That explained why they were both so tanned.

"Haha, yes we moved here quite recently. Anyway, what are you doing yours on?"

"Me? Well I'm reconstructing one of the paintings I did over the summer. It's a park scene; the sun is setting over a pond where two swans are swimming together."

"That sounds really cute!" the other boy smiled before turning back to his work. Ryou too got on with his work, sweeping the brush over the paper with ease.

Fifty minutes later, the teacher called the class's attention.

"Good job all of you! I've been walking around and I have to say, I'm impressed with all of your talents! Now seeing as you are all brilliant, I am going to give you an assignment. You shall work with the person next to you to produce a piece of art that shows off both of your talents merged into one. You will have two weeks to complete this and then you shall present your work to your fellow students. Please hand your work in on the way out, class dismissed!" Marik turned around eagerly to Ryou.

"Looks like were partners!" Ryou smiled at the blonde next to him.

"Yes this should be a fun project! What lessons have you got for the rest of the day?"

"One second let me check," Marik reached into his backpack and pulled out his time table, his eyes scanning over the creased piece of paper in front of him, "I have history next in room 2, followed by English in 25, then Gym and finally Geography in 11."

"It looks like we have History and Gym together!" Ryou squeaked with excitement, this boy could be his first real friend! He hoped he wouldn't mess it up.

"Great! We should probably get going." Ryou nodded and led the way, handing his completed painting to his teacher before exiting the room and heading to History.

* * *

First lesson for Bakura was torture. The teacher had sat Bakura next to Melvin because they were in the same form, and that psychopath of an Egyptian did nothing but bug him the whole time! If he wasn't irritating Bakura by talking to him, he was fiddling with his pen; tapping it, chewing it, or scratching holes in the desk with it. All in all, Bakura's mood had definitely not improved in the slightest. Weren't teachers supposed to go easy on students on the first day back? Obviously this teacher didn't get the message, and now he had to put up with History for an hour! Sighing he opened the door and went over to a desk at the back of the room. He was one of the first people in the room due to the fact his last class had been so close to this room. Melvin had disappeared to god knows where after Maths, and Bakura really couldn't care less where he had gone. Laying his head on his arms he waited for the class to start. It was only a few minutes before Bakura felt a gentle poke in his left arm. Looking up, he saw his brother standing there, smiling at him.

"Hey 'Kura, It looks like we have a class together!" Ryou's smile widened as he took the seat next to Bakura. When he looked over to where his brother was sitting, he saw him chatting animatedly to another boy in front of him. At first glance Bakura thought it was Melvin and he could feel his blood boil, but when he looked carefully, he noticed the softer features and calmed down a bit . This was the boy who stopped the fight from happening on the bus, he couldn't remember his name.

"Hey Bakura, would it be alright if Marik came over later? We have to do a project together," Ryou said whilst flashing him the puppy dog eyes, he knew Bakura could never resist them.

"Yeah sure, whatever," Ryou let out an excited squeak before continuing to talk to his new friend. He was happy his brother was making friends, but did he really have to be so girly about it? He wondered if his brother was born the right gender sometimes. Although, he noticed Marik looked exceptionally feminine too, covered in jewellery, showing off his midriff and was that eyeliner he saw? He tried, and failed, to contain his laughter at the thought. This happened to catch the attention of the boys.

"What, may I ask is so funny?" Marik looked at him with a frown on his face.

"Are you wearing eyeliner?" Bakura said in between laughs, he didn't know why it amused him so much, but it did.

"Yes, and?"

"It makes you look like a girl!" Bakura's laughter increased, causing Marik's frown to deepen. Ryou sat in shock at his brother's rudeness.

"And your hair makes you look like a girl but you don't see me making fun of you for it!" that stopped Bakura's laughter, he glared at the smaller boy before an insane cackle emitted behind him. That had to be Melvin. Bakura turned around and his suspicions were confirmed.

"What do you think you're laughing at?" he grumbled in his deadliest voice that usually had people cowering in fear. This however, did not affect Melvin at all.

"You and your fluffy hair, kitty," he said simply sitting in the chair beside Marik. Ryou started to laugh but immediately stopped when his brother gave him a look that said 'keep laughing and see what happens.' Turning his attention back to Melvin to retaliate, he was interrupted by Marik.

"Brother, I'm going over to Ryou's after school for a project so I'll be home later than usual. Tell sister for me please?"

"Who's Ryou?" Marik pointed to the smaller white haired boy.

"It's Bakura's brother." Melvin looked in the direction of where his brother was pointing, starting intensely at Ryou. Bakura felt Ryou shift uncomfortably in his chair, obviously bothered by the way Melvin was analysing him. Bakura didn't like it either; he kept a careful eye on the Egyptian. It seemed to go on forever before Melvin nodded his head in an approving way.

"Sure go ahead," as he said this, Marik's eyes lit up.

"Thanks brother!" he squeaked in the same girly manner as Ryou, maybe these two were destined to be friends? They were extremely similar, almost scarily.

The teacher finally arrived and started the lesson.

* * *

After an hour of listening to the teacher talk about what was expected of the students for this course, and which topics they would be covering, Ryou was bored out of his skull. Packing his things away, he turned to Bakura.

"Hey 'Kura, what lesson have you got next?

"English in 25 I think."

"Oh! Marik's there next! You two can walk down together!" at this, Bakura looked at Ryou as if he were mad.

"Oh joy! I get to spend another hour with Blondie, fucking brilliant!" he said sarcastically, earning a frown from Ryou.

"Come on 'Kura, be nice! It's their first day here!"

"Oh fine! But don't expect me to be overly civil towards him. Anyway what've you got next?"

"Chemistry in room 45," Ryou saw Melvin turn around out of the corner of his eye as he said this and he felt his heart beat quicken when the taller boy smiled. That boy scared the crap out of him!

"I'm in there next; could you show me the way?"

"U-urm s-sure," Ryou silently smacked himself for stuttering, it just made him sound weaker than he already was! And weak was something you definitely did not want to be around people like Melvin, Ryou knew that for sure.

The bell rang signalling it was time to head to next lesson. Melvin looked over at Ryou, motioning for him to lead the way.

"I'll urm, see you later you guys," he squeaked before leaving. He could hear Melvin laughing to himself and tried to ignore him.

"You don't have to be scared of me; I won't bother you, unless you piss me off." Ryou looked at the supposedly insane boy behind him with a confused expression. This couldn't be the same boy from the bus could it? He was being far too nice!

"I-I'm not scared of you! I'm just nervous around new people! Plus you look like a psychopath…" Ryou mumbled the last part barely audibly.

"What was that?"

"Oh n-nothing!" Ryou spluttered out, quickening his steps. The sooner he got to class, the better.

Ryou was about to turn a corner when he heard a thud followed by a yelp. Turning around as quickly as he could, he saw Melvin holding a smaller boy up to the wall by his collar, his face dangerously close the other, that insane look creeping once more onto his face.

"I'd watch where I was walking if I were you. Wouldn't want you getting into trouble now would we?" he snarled, throwing the boy against the wall once more before dropping him harshly to the ground. The boy got up and ran for it, with an absolutely terrified expression on his face. Ryou stood there completely stunned, frozen to the ground, his mouth opened in a perfect O shape.

"Hey creampuff, are you coming?" Melvin said in what was a completely different tone to a few moments ago, as if nothing at all just happened.

"U-ur yes, just…what the hell did you just do?!" Ryou slapped his hands over his mouth, he didn't mean for the last part to come out! He saw the insane look cross Melvin's features once more and started to panic, but just as soon as the sadistic glint was there, it was gone again.

"I don't like people bumping into me," Melvin shrugged before walking over to Ryou. Grabbing the white haired boys arm, he started to drag a completely dazed Ryou down the hall. This, however seemed to bring him back to reality, he tugged his arm out of Melvin's grasp.

"I thought you didn't know where to go?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't, but seeing as you were just standing there I had to do something," Melvin stated.

"Oh. Well this is the right direction anyway." Ryou sped up to make sure he was in front before continuing to the classroom; once again he heard that deranged laugh and couldn't help the shiver that ran down his body.

When they entered the classroom, they saw the other students lined up against the wall. It seemed this class would have a seating chart. The teacher came out of the storeroom and Ryou could hear Melvin choke back a laugh. He was a fat, short man covered in acne. His hair was shoulder length and brown with a slight wave in it. He was wearing a tight, pink button up top that was tucked into his light brown trousers.

"Good morning class, I only have a one rule that you will need to follow. If you don't annoy me, I won't annoy you. Yes, it is that simple. You will be assigned a partner for this class because I don't trust you to choose your own," he smiled in a way that made Ryou's skin crawl. It wasn't often he didn't like a teacher, but he was sure he could make an exception for this man. "When I call out you, and your partners name please head over to any desk you want."

Ryou listened nervously as the names of his peers were called out. He wished the teacher would read the names quicker! More and more students went to sit with their allocated partners, some happy with the outcome, some highly disappointed. Finally, Ryou heard his name.

"Ryou Bakura, you will be partnered with Melvin Ishtar." Ryou didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Melvin mixed with chemicals was bound to end badly, right? But on the other hand, it was one of the better choices. They walked to a random desk and sat down.

"Ryou, if your last names Bakura, well your brother's name can't be Bakura Bakura, can it?" Melvin asked looking thoroughly confused. Ryou let out a soft laugh.

"No Melvin, Bakura has always hated his name, so people just call him by his last name."

"Oh, so what's his first name?" there was a mischievous glint in Melvin's eye.

"Like I'm going to tell you, you'd make fun of him for it! And he would know I told you!" Ryou couldn't risk it. His brother would react in a very violent way, whether he was his brother or not.

"Aww come on Ryou!" Melvin gave him what he obviously thought was an innocent smile. That boy was anything but innocent.

"No."

"Please?"

"No! Look sir is talking!" Thankfully the teacher had started explaining the lesson at that moment, causing Melvin to give up his argument. Well, until it was time for them to work. Then Ryou couldn't get the Egyptian to shut up. They argued for the entire lesson before the dismissal bell rang signalling lunch.

"This isn't over creampuff!" With that he left, Ryou wondered where he was going, but decided he'd rather not know.

Over the last period, he had become really comfortable around Melvin. Sure he still intimidated him, but he wasn't that bad, perhaps slightly crazy, but everyone had issues. He just had to make sure not to piss him off. Smiling to himself, he headed towards the lunch hall.

* * *

"Hey! Slow down! I can't walk that fast!" Bakura groaned hearing the annoying voice of the smaller boy behind him. He thought he had lost him a few corridors back, but obviously he had thought wrong. Turning around Bakura smirked at the other boy.

"Oh I'm awfully sorry Blondie; let me walk at a speed you can manage," he slowed his steps down a considerable amount, walking in slow motion behind the blonde. Marik turned around to look at Bakura with an extremely un-amused look on his face. The expression was too much for Bakura, as he broke out into a fit of laughter. Marik strode over to the white haired boy, smacking him on the back of the head.

"Oi, what was that for?" Bakura yelped rubbing the spot in which Marik's hand had made contact with. He could hit hard!

"For being a prick, kitty," he said smirking. Bakura glared at him before striding in front and taking the lead once more.

They arrived to lesson just as the other students were entering the room. Joining the end of the line, they walked into the classroom. Glancing around for an empty seat, he saw two at the back of the room. As he walked over, he realised there were the only two seats left, and him and Marik were the only two people left. Cursing to himself, he sat down in the chair next to the window. Not only was he stuck with this kid for the rest of the period, he had to sit directly next to him! This is going to be torture.

The teacher strode in, and she was quite possibly one of the ugliest women Bakura had ever seen. Her head was huge, her cheek bones stuck out at funny angles, her eyes were far too small for her head, and her front two teeth had a huge gape in-between them. Her hair was brown, curly and short. She looked eerily like a cabbage patch kid.

"Good morning class, I hope you're all enjoying your first day back at school! Today we're going to be doing some partner work. You may as well work with the person you're already sat next to." Bakura hated this bitch already. "What I would like you to do is devise a presentation around the information I will hand out in a second. In four lessons time you will be giving these presentations and they will be marked. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask."

"Bloody hell" Bakura mumbled, so far his first three lessons of the day had been crap! He couldn't wait to get home.

"What's got your knickers in a twist?" Marik asked, accepting the information sheet from the teacher.

"Oh nothing Marik, I was just thinking how lucky I am to work with you," he replied in a sarcastic tone. Marik sighed.

"Why do I annoy you so much? I haven't done anything to you!"

"You're related to Melvin, that's enough for me to dislike you."

"And what's wrong with my brother?" Marik asked raising an eyebrow.

"Oh I don't know, maybe he's a complete and utter psychopath!"

Marik snorted, "Takes one to know one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bakura was getting mad now, this kid really grated on his nerves.

"It means you're not exactly the sanest person I've ever met! You're just as bad as Melvin!"

"I AM NOT INSANE!" Bakura yelled, slamming his hands on the table, catching the teacher's attention.

"Marik, Bakura, if you don't stop fighting this second, I'll be forced to give you an F!"

Both Marik and Bakura mumbled their apologies, before reading the information sheet in front of them. Their task was to pick something they considered useless, and perform a presentation in front of the class explaining why they believe the invention to be stupid.

"I say we should do eyeliner," Bakura said smirking at the response he received from Marik.

"No! Eyeliner is like the best creation ever!"

"Do you know how gay that makes you sound?"

"So?"

"So? You don't care if you sound gay?"

"No, not particularly," Bakura was sort of impressed with this kid. He didn't give a shit about what people thought of him, Bakura respected people like that. But Marik still annoyed the crap out of him.

After 40 minutes of Bakura suggesting something, and Marik turning it down, they finally came up with an idea: shutter shades. Pleased that they had been able to come up with an idea, they started mind mapping possible things to say in the presentation, when the bell rang.

"Thank god for that!" Marik said grabbing his bag and practically running to the door, before stopping and turning around to face Bakura.

"Is there a problem?" Bakura asked slinging his back pack over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't know where the lunch hall is, could you show me?"

"Yeah whatever, follow me," Bakura strode in front of Marik and they left the classroom in the direction of the hall.

* * *

**A/N: Why does Bakura hate his name? The answer will soon be revealed!**

**Please review! Tell me what you're thinking of this story so far! **

**See you all (hopefully) next week!**


	3. Gym Class!

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to another chapter of unexpected! Another HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed! Well done to those who figured out Bakura's first name! (even though I probably made it extremely obvious…) Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Ryou pushed open the door to the lunch hall with a sigh. He never enjoyed lunch; he didn't have any friends to sit with, only his brother. Sitting down and pulling out his lunch of a ham sandwich and an apple, he noticed a head of white hair being closely followed by a blonde making their way over to the table.

"Bloody hell, Marik do you ever shut up!" Bakura yelled.

"Jheez fluffy, you don't have to be so mean!" Marik sighed, pouting and folding his arms.

"STOP. CALLING. ME. FLUFFY!" Bakura was getting madder by the second, but Marik didn't seem fazed.

"No, I think I'll keep calling you fluffy until you calm down!"

"Just shut up and sit down," Bakura growled before sitting opposite his brother. Marik huffed in annoyance but sat down next to Ryou nonetheless.

"Hey" Marik said turning to Ryou, completely ignoring Bakura's presence. "How was Chemistry with my brother? I see you managed to survive," he asked laughing slightly.

"It was okay actually, Melvin's quite a nice guy," at this, Bakura spat his drink out, which sprayed all over Marik.

"EW! BAKURA! THAT'S SO GROSS!" Marik cried, frantically wiping his face. Bakura ignored him and instead addressed Ryou.

"What the bloody hell do you mean by 'quite a nice guy'?" he asked his brother, looking very worried.

"Well, sure he's intimidating and slightly insane, but once you actually talk to him he's quite interesting."

"Ryou, I think the chemicals have gone to your head," Bakura said raising a hand to check his temperature. Ryou swatted it away with annoyance.

"Please don't tell me you're still mad at him for the whole bus incident?"

"No! He just strikes me as someone you should watch out for."

"Oi! This is my brother you're talking about," Marik said, turning to look at Bakura.

"Yes and?"

"You hardly know him! Plus you're not a ray of sunshine yourself!"

"That isn't the point Marik; I'm trying to protect my brother," Bakura said, sipping his drink again.

"Protect me from what? I only said he was a nice guy! It's not like we're getting married!" Ryou huffed in frustration at his brother. Bakura's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as he spat his drink all over Marik once again.

"BAKURA!" Marik growled but was ignored again.

"W-why? Would you want to get married to him?" Bakura asked, going slightly paler than usual.

"Bakura! Don't be stupid!"

"I'm not being stupid Ryou! I was just-"

"Why's Bakura being stupid, creampuff?" A deep, husky voice that could only have been Melvin's asked. Turning around, Ryou looked up into the face of the man who was just their topic of conversation.

"O-oh n-no reason Mel-Melvin," a light blush spread over Ryou's face, how long had Melvin been there? If he had heard the conversation, Ryou would die from embarrassment!

"I suppose he doesn't need a reason does he?" Melvin tousled Ryou's hair, causing his blush to deepen, before walking round the table to sit next to Bakura. He flashed him a toothy grin, earning a scowl in return.

"What's wrong with you?"

"You,"

"What did I do, exactly?" Melvin's expression went blank with confusion.

"Oh, nothing much, just the fact you've managed to piss me off every single second of the day so far," Bakura replied in an icily calm way. Melvin simply snorted before turning to his brother.

"Let's go" he demanded.

"Urm…why?" Marik blinked looking utterly confused by his brother's request.

"We have Gym next," Melvin said in a matter-of-fact tone. Realisation dawned on Marik's face as him, and his brother stood up.

"Oh right, well see you guys later!" The brothers hurried out of the hall, leaving Ryou and Bakura to stare after their retreating figures.

"What do you suppose that was all about?" Ryou asked, his brown eyes wide with innocence.

"How the bloody hell should I know?" Bakura said, taking quite an aggressive bite out of his sandwich. Ryou rolled his eyes and continued eating his lunch in silence.

* * *

Once lunch was over, the white haired twins made their way to the gym. As they entered, they saw Marik and Melvin sitting outside the changing rooms, fully changed into their kits.

"Don't tell me you two left early so you could get changed for Gym?" Bakura said, letting out a cold laugh, making Ryou frown.

"Bakura don't be so mean! Not everyone is as disorganised as you! They probably left early to make sure they got to the gym on time, right?" Ryou chirped, those doe like eyes looking at the Egyptians with a softness they had never seen before.

"Urm…yeah sure!" Marik said, not wanting to reveal the actual reason they came to change before the rest of the class. Bakura snorted obviously not believing the smaller Ishtar, but was nudged into the changing rooms by Ryou.

"He's obviously lying!"

"Bakura! They have made it perfectly clear they don't want us knowing! So don't intrude on people's private business!"

"And what makes you think I'll listen?"

"Please 'Kura!" Ryou flashed him the famous 'puppy dog pout'. Sighing, Bakura nodded.

"Fine, but they will tell me eventually."

"Of course they will 'Kura, now get changed would you?" Ryou said in an almost bored voice.

Both the boys slipped into their kits and joined the Ishtar's in the gym.

More and More boys started filling the gym, and soon after so did the teacher. He was a tall, muscular man wearing a short sleeved red vest and black shorts.

"Right class time for the warm up! You know the drill," he stated in a harsh tone. Ryou hated gym, it was the only lesson he wished he could skip. Every lesson they did five laps around the gym before getting to the actual lesson, which he thought was completely pointless. Why not just stretch? It would sure be quicker! He was about to start jogging when he saw two very confused Egyptians standing in the same spot as before. Of course, they would have no idea what to do! Ryou went up to Marik to explain.

"Every lesson, Sir makes us jog 5 laps." Marik nodded in understanding and followed Ryou around the gym oblivious to the fact Melvin wasn't.

After another lap, Ryou noticed and headed over to where Melvin was standing.

"Aren't you going to jog?" He asked in a concerned tone.

"Can't be assed," he replied with a bored expression.

"If Sir notices you just standing here, you'll regret it," Ryou stressed hoping to make the other boy understand.

"You think I'm scared of getting a detention?" he snorted, leaning back against the wall with his arms folded.

"Well no, but do you really want to get a detention on your first day?" Ryou couldn't help the concerned look on his face, it wasn't really any of his business, but he felt the need to help the other boy. Melvin didn't bother replying, he snorted again before closing his eyes. Sighing, Ryou gave up and continued to jog around the hall.

Once the laps were finished, the teacher called the attention of the class again to explain the lesson.

"Because you've all probably slobbed around during the holidays, the first few weeks we will be working on bringing you all back into shape. Pair up and start doing sit ups." He blew the whistle louder than needed, and the students went to the people who they would normally pair up with. Ryou was about to walk over to Bakura, when he felt a strong grip on his arm. Spinning around quickly, he looked into the deep lavender eyes of Melvin, who was smirking at him.

"Creampuff, you're going to be my partner," Ryou tried to wriggle out of his grip, but all that did was make Melvin tighten his hand around the smaller boys arm.

"U-um okay," Ryou managed to squeak out. Giving a satisfied smile, Melvin dragged Ryou over to one of the many mats placed around the hall.

Bakura watched with distaste as his brother was dragged along by Melvin, there was something he really didn't like about that guy, and now he was molesting his brother! Okay, maybe he was overreacting slightly, but he could tell Melvin's intentions weren't innocent. Then it dawned on him, Bakura wouldn't have a partner! He always used to pair up with Ryou due to the fact everyone was too scared to actually approach him and ask. Sighing, he walked over to a mat, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Marik standing behind him, hands on his hips, pouting.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" Bakura growled.

"My brother ditched me for Ryou, so I was wondering if we could be partners," he asked hopefully.

"Like hell! I'm not going anywhere near you unless it's absolutely necessary!" Bakura shot back.

"Well, you don't have much choice anyway, we're the only two without partners, and there's only one mat left," he stated. Bakura was ready to retort, before he realised that they actually were the last two people, and there was only one mat left. Sighing again, he nodded and led Marik over to the spot opposite Melvin and Ryou.

"Lie down creampuff," Melvin commanded, folding his arms and staring down at Ryou with those menacing eyes.

"S-sure," Ryou replied, slightly scared, but more embarrassed than anything. Gym was his worst subject and he was sure Melvin would be more than okay, judging by his huge, toned arms. He lay down on the mat, knees slightly raised. Melvin placed his hands on Ryou's legs, holding them in place as Ryou started the sit ups.

He had only done ten, but he was sure his face was red and flushed. His breathing was becoming heavier and he could feel some sweat forming on his back.

"You look pathetic creampuff," Melvin said with an amused look on his face. Ryou sat up and pouted at the taller male.

"I'm no good at gym okay? I've never been very athletic," he said simply before continuing.

"I understand that, but that doesn't explain why you're so out of shape."

Ryou gasped, offended by his comment. Sitting up again, he crossed his arms in annoyance. "I am not out of shape! It's just overly warm in here!" he defended himself, but Melvin wasn't buying anyway of it.

"I'm not hot," he smirked.

"Well of course you're not! You're from Egypt! You're used to heat!"

"That's a poor excuse creampuff, and you know it."

"It is not!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"Isn't!"

"IS!"

"IS NOT!"

"RYOU! MELVIN! WOULD YOU PLEASE CONCENTRATE?" the teacher yelled, causing silence to fall in the gym. Melvin smirked, but Ryou could feel a blush forming, he never liked being the centre of attention, and he definitely didn't enjoy being told off by a teacher.

"S-sorry sir!" he squeaked out before turning to Melvin, "Anyway, it's your turn." They switched positions on the mat, and Melvin started doing sit ups with ease. His muscles flexing with the effort of pushing his torso from the ground, sweat making his shirt stick to his body, outlining the toned six-pack underneath. Ryou couldn't help but stare, Melvin looked hot.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked, giving Ryou a cocky look.

"N-no! O-of c-course not!" Ryou spluttered, his face that had just regained its normal colour, turning bright pink again.

"Whatever you say, creampuff," Melvin said before winking at him. Ryou avoided his gaze for the rest of the lesson.

Bakura watched the display with a scowl on his face.

"What's wrong with you?" Marik asked in between sit ups.

"Your brother is what's up! Look at him! Perving all over my brother as if he's something to eat! It's disgusting!"

"Bakura you're being paranoid! There is nothing going on between Melvin and Ryou!"

"How do you know?" Bakura asked him with a questioning look on his face.

"Because I just do."

"Oh what a brilliant reason! Well Marik, if you just know, then you must be right!" Bakura replied sarcastically.

Marik gave Bakura a scowl of his own before speaking, "Anyway, even if my brother is interested in Ryou, why does it matter?"

"It matters, dear Ishtar, because I don't want your psychopath of a brother screwing Ryou then leaving him!"

"How do you know he would do that?"

"I've met his type before, they use people, act nice to them, treat them with respect, then BAM, they take what they want and leave. I won't let that happen to Ryou."

"Wait a second, you don't even know my brother, how can you make such an accusation!"

"Because, like I said before, I know his type." Marik seemed to contemplate this before opening his mouth to retort, he was however, cut off by Bakura.

"It's my turn, get up." Marik scowled at the demand but complied, getting up from the mat and switching places with Bakura.

* * *

For the rest of the lesson, they did more exercises similar to the sit ups before they were dismissed to the changing rooms. Marik and Melvin practically ran in and took up two of the shower stalls to get ready. Bakura gave Ryou a confused look, which was answered with one that said 'don't break our deal.' Nodding, although slightly miffed, Bakura started getting changed.

The two Egyptians left the stalls, completely dressed, before walking over to Bakura and Ryou.

"Hey Ryou!" Marik shouted catching said boys attention. "What lesson have you got next?"

"Maths, what have you got?"

"Ah that sucks! I've got Chemistry"

"Oh, okay! Well, I'll see you later for that project then?"

"Yeah sure! See you on the bus," Marik beamed at Ryou before walking off, Melvin trailing behind him. They obviously had Chemistry together. Bakura groaned, not pleased with the idea of having to put up with Marik for longer after school. Ignoring this, Ryou turned to his brother.

"'Kura what have you got next?"

"Biology, I'll see you later." He stormed off leaving Ryou behind; Ryou wasn't surprised to see his brother in a bad mood. Turning around, he made his way to Maths.

* * *

To say the least, Maths was a complete disaster. He tried extremely hard to listen to the teacher, but it wasn't the most interesting of subjects and Ryou's thought kept wandering to a certain, tall Egyptian boy. Images of gym kept flashing through his mind, making the usually innocent white haired boy more than a little bit hot and flustered. The more he tried to concentrate on the lesson, the further his thoughts took him away. Silently thanking god when the bell rang, he ran from the room and into the bus bays, where he met up with Marik.

"Hey Ryou, how was last lesson?

"I-it was…interesting?" Ryou couldn't exactly tell Marik he was daydreaming about his brother, all hot and sweaty in skin tight clothing. The thought made Ryou blush, which caught Marik's attention.

"You okay?" he asked with a concerned look.

"Y-yes I'm fine, let's get on the bus before the good seats are taken." Ryou turned around as quick as he could and strode onto the bus, willing his face to calm down. He could feel Marik's concerned gaze on him as he followed Ryou onto the bus and sat next to him, keeping an eye on the white haired boy the entire journey.

* * *

When the bus finally reached Ryou's stop, he and Marik got off and waited for Bakura, before walking to the white haired boy's home.

Unlocking the door, Ryou allowed Marik to go in first. He sat down in one of the leather couches, admiring his surroundings.

"Nice house you've got here!" as he said this, Bakura snorted.

"What's wrong with you?" Marik questioned with a slightly, colder tone than the one he had used to speak to Ryou.

"You, you're being so polite!"

"I'm polite to Ryou because he's not as rude as you are!" Marik shot back, glaring at Bakura. They continued to argue for a while, giving Ryou a slight headache in the process.

"Okay you two, break it up! Marik and I need to work so 'Kura just go away for a bit." Ryou moved his hands in a shooing motion before sitting down opposite Marik.

"Excuse me? You can't just kick me out of my own living room!" Bakura planted his feet firmly on the ground, as if to prove his point further.

"Well unless you can stay in here without arguing with Marik, you have to go!" Ryou stressed, hoping his brother would co-operate for once.

"Why can't you go somewhere else? Wouldn't that be easier?" Of course, Bakura wouldn't go down without a fight. Drastic times called for drastic measures.

"FLORENCE! WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST LEAVE?" Ryou yelled, causing Bakura's eyes to go wide.

"FINE!" With that, Bakura stormed up the stairs, making sure to slam his foot extra hard on each step as he went.

"Florence?" Marik turned to Ryou, looking extremely confused. "I thought his name was Bakura?"

"That's our last name, Bakura hates his first name. I don't usually resort to saying it, but sometimes he really gets on my nerves!" Ryou said, rubbing his temples as if it would somehow ease his headache. "Let's just start on this project."

* * *

If it was possible, Bakura's day just got worse! Hitting the wall as hard as he could, he cursed his brother. How dare he call him by his first name! Especially in front of Marik! He knew how much he despised his name! He had hated his name ever since he could remember. His parents had thought it was a good idea to name their children after their best friends, Ryou and Florence. As Ryou was the first born, he got the decent name, and Bakura was stuck with the girlish name he currently had. And now, thanks to said brother, he would never hear the end of it! Falling back on his bed, he ignored his pile of homework and let his thoughts take over. How was it possible that in one day, two Egyptians could make his life a living hell? Rubbing his eyes, Bakura let out a yawn and fell to sleep.

* * *

Two hours had passed, and Marik and Ryou had gotten quite a bit of work done, but decided it was time for the tanned boy to leave. Waving a goodbye to the tanned boy, Ryou started dinner knowing his brother would be even grumpier with him if he wasn't fed. Placing the meat and vegetables on a plate, he head upstairs and knocked on Bakura's door. No answer. He tried again, still no answer. Frowning Ryou called into the room.

"Bakura! I've made you dinner, sorry about earlier I was just a little stressed" Still no answer. Was his brother really that upset with him? Turning the knob, Ryou was pleased to find it unlocked. Letting himself in, he looked over to the bed, seeing his brother curled up in a ball in the middle. Ryou couldn't help but think how cute it was, but his brother needed to eat. Giving Bakura a gentle nudge, he saw the taller teen stir.

"Hey sleepy head, I made you some dinner, don't let it get cold! And I'm sorry about the whole Florence incident earlier, Marik won't tell anyone! I promise!-"

"Ryou, you're rambling," Bakura grunted out, still half asleep.

"Sorry…" he replied rather sheepishly before placing the food on the nightstand and leaving. As he closed the door, he smiled hearing the clink of cutlery hitting the plate. Pleased that his brother was eating, he made his way to the kitchen, picking up his plate of food, he head back upstairs and into his room to relax for the rest of the night.

* * *

**Reviews are always greatly appreciated XD**


	4. An Unexpected Surprise

**A/N: Woah, I've updated on time three weeks in a row, I am exceptionally proud! I guess I just love you guys so much! For some reason I had mega writers block during this chapter, so I hope its not as terrible as I think it is. Anyways, enough about me, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_Ryou opened his eyes slightly, taking in his new surroundings. Raising his head he opened his eyes, heavy with the after effects of sleep, to see the silhouette of what looked like a taller man sitting in the corner. The room was too dark for Ryou to make out who his capturer was, but he could tell the man was tall. Trying to sit up slightly to get a closer look at his kidnapper, he noticed his arms felt stiff. He started to move them to release some tension when he realised his problem; his hands were tied together above his head. Panic started to rise in the smaller boy as he tried, and failed to retrieve his hands, the chains rattling loudly with his efforts. He had no idea where he was, and now he was chained to what felt like a bed in front of a complete stranger. This couldn't end well._

"_Ah, you're finally awake," came the deep husky voice of his kidnapper. That voice sounded so familiar, yet Ryou couldn't put a name to it…_

"_I was starting to get worried" The man moved closer to where Ryou was lying, swaying his hips in an exotic way as he swept forwards. He moved towards the edge of the bed, placing his hands on the soft mattress._

"_You don't know who I am, do you?" Ryou could only manage a squeak in response. Rich, almost maniacal laughter filled the room as the mysterious man moved even further forwards._

"_It's me creampuff" Ryou let out a gasp at the hot breath on his ear, he hadn't realised how close he had gotten._

"_Melvin?" Ryou said, almost breathlessly, feeling the body heat radiating from the others skin._

"_Yes, you're clever creampuff" His voice laced was with lust as he traced his tongue down Ryou's cheek. "Mmm, tasty too." Ryou's breathing hitched as he felt the wet organ slide across his smooth skin._

"_M-Melvin wha-what a-are you doin-ng? Ryou managed to choke out._

"_Something I should have done a while ago" He replied smoothly, before crashing his lips down to Ryou's, taking advantage of his shocked state to slip a tongue into the white haired boys mouth. Ryou, who was too stunned to respond at first, eventually melted into the kiss, moving his lips against Melvin's with hunger, their tongues dancing together as his hands struggled against the chains with the need to touch the other teen. Melvin moved onto Ryou's lap, straddling the smaller boy as he ground their hips together, releasing a delish moan from the white haired teen. The need for air broke them apart, but not for long as Melvin attacked Ryou's neck, digging his sharp canines into the soft, pale skin, before licking over the wound, soothing and pleasuring as he went. He slid a hand up Ryou's shirt, rubbing against a nipple, before pinching it. Ryou moaned in satisfaction, he could feel his arousal growing more and more every second…_

'BEEP BEEP BEEP!' Ryou almost jumped out of his skin as the alarm went off, his face turning a deep crimson as he remembered the dream he was having moments ago. Pulling the sheets back, he noticed he had a rather large problem he would need to take care of before school. Groaning, he was about to leave his room to take an icy cold shower, when he heard his brother outside the door.

"Ry'? You okay? I heard a noise?"

"Y-yea 'K-Kura I'm fine!" Ryou said quickly, his voice higher than usual.

"You sure? Should I come in-?"

"NO!" Ryou yelled, he couldn't let his brother see him in his …situation. "E-everything is fine 'Kura I just…erm…stubbed…my…toe on the table!" Ryou tried to sound as innocent as he could, but due to his current problem, he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Hmm, okay…just be more careful," Bakura said, although he didn't sound convinced, but Ryou was glad his brother dropped the subject.

Hearing Bakura's footsteps becoming distant, he quickly ran down the hall and into the bathroom. Turning the shower onto the coldest setting, he stripped out of his pyjamas and hopped in, letting the icy liquid run down his muscles.

It had been a week since the start of school; he and Marik had become good friends over the short space of time. As for him and Melvin, well, he didn't really know what they were. They had become close, but not close enough to be considered a friend, at least that's what Ryou thought, he didn't really know what Melvin thought about him. In all honesty, Ryou wanted to be friends with him, perhaps more…Blushing as he remembered the dream, Ryou shook the thoughts from his head. Bakura would kill him if he found out that there may be a small possibility that his brother might be getting a tiny little crush on the schools maniac… It wasn't the fact he was a guy; Bakura wasn't homophobic, it was the fact his brother and Melvin did not get on one little bit. Sighing, Ryou turned the shower off and started getting ready for the school day ahead of him.

* * *

Getting off the bus and heading towards his form, Ryou looked at his timetable, he hoped to have a somewhat exciting morning, especially considering not the dull week they had last week. Today he had Physics first, followed by Maths, English, Art and finally History. It wasn't one of the worst days; it definitely wasn't one of the best. It turned out that they would have the same science teacher for Biology, Chemistry and Physics, meaning they would also have the same partners, not that Ryou minded of course. A small smile played on his lips as he thought about spending first period with Melvin.

* * *

"Creampuff! Ready to tell me Bakura's first name yet?" Melvin asked as soon as Ryou walked into the Laboratory.

"No Melvin! For the last time! I will not betray my brother's trust!" Ryou stressed, a smile threatening to betray the serious effect he was trying to achieve.

"I will get it out of you eventually, you know that right?" Melvin stated, smirking.

"Sure Melvin, whatever you say." Ryou said, causing Melvin to grin, he obviously didn't pick up on the sarcasm that laced Ryou's words.

Their teacher came in shortly afterwards and explained the practical they would be taking doing today. It was quite simple, they had to pour the same amount of water into two different sized beakers, and they would then heat up each beaker and record the temperature over ten minutes to see which heated up quicker. Ryou sent Melvin off to fill the beakers with water, whilst he set up the Bunsen burner.

Once everything was ready, Ryou went to tell sir to light their Bunsen burner. Once the Bunsen was lit, Ryou was about to start, when he had the feeling they were forgetting something. Scanning his eyes over the equipment, Ryou realised they had forgotten the thermometer.

"One second Melvin, I'll just grab a thermometer, and then we can start."

"Should I turn the burner off?"

"No I won't be a moment." Melvin nodded and Ryou went over to the table where the equipment was laid out. Picking up one of the thermometers, he started to make his way back to the desk he and Melvin shared, when his leg got caught in the strap of someone's bag. Falling forwards, his arms flailed around trying to find something to grab before his face was crushed against the desk, but unfortunately there was nothing. Closing his eyes, he waited for the impact, when…

"RYOU!" he heard Melvin scream, as a pair of strong hands grabbed his arms, holding him inches from the corner of the desk. Panting slightly, he was spun around, his face inches from Melvin's. Their noses almost touching as he gazed into the deep purple depths, he could feel Melvin's hot breath on his skin, sending shivers done his spin.

After a few moments, Melvin spoke, "You need to be more careful creampuff; you could have done some serious damage." All Ryou could do was nod as Melvin released his grip.

Turning around to start the experiment, Ryou heard Melvin shouting once again.

"OH MY GOD RYOU!"

"WHAT?" he shouted back, annoyed with the distractions, he really wanted to do the experiment.

"YOU'RE ON FIRE!" Melvin shouted back.

Ryou stared at him for a moment before the words actually sank in. Eyes wide, Ryou started screaming as Melvin threw the contents of the beakers onto Ryou's hair, putting out the flames that had started to burn the ends.

Everyone's attention was now on them, Melvin had calmed down and was currently telling Ryou how cool his hair looked when it was on fire, whilst Ryou stood very still and silent, looking like a drowned rat.

"What happened over here?" Sir said, with a frustrated look on his face. As Ryou was too stunned to answer, Melvin did it for him.

"When he spun around after the trip his hair must have caught in the Bunsen burner and set on fire," he explained in a very cool and calm voice.

"You should go to the nurse's office, to make sure you didn't burn any skin," he said to Ryou before addressing Melvin. "Oh and Melvin, you should probably go with him, he seems to be suffering from shock." Ryou nodded slightly before walking out the door, Melvin following close behind.

Well, it was definitely an exciting morning to say the least.

* * *

Bakura had English first, meaning he got to spend first period with Marik, _bloody brilliant_. As he entered the room, he was greeted by a voice he had become very used to in such a short space of time.

"Bakura! You're late! We have a presentation to prepare you know!" Marik shouted at him from across the room, causing a few giggles, which were instantly stopped with Bakura's famous death glare. Glancing at the clock, he noticed that he was indeed 5 minutes late.

"Stop your whining Marik, it's only been 5 minutes, and were almost finished." He stated in a slightly annoyed voice, once he had reached his desk.

"That is not the point! We need to practise as well!"

"You do realise we have until next Monday to finish this AND practise?"

"Yes, but I want this to be perfect!"

"Why? It's only an English presentation; it's not that much of a big deal."

"Well unlike you I want to get a good grade! And I don't want to make a fool of myself by going up there and having nothing to say!"

"Trust me, the day you have nothing to say is the day I run around school wearing nothing but a pair of cat ears."

"Hey! Are you saying I talk a lot? Because I really don't!"

"Yes you do."

"I do not Bakura and you know it!"

"Look, I cannot be bothered with arguing, can we just get on with this bloody presentation?"

"Fine!"

They worked in silence for about ten minutes, before Marik spoke again.

"Bakura-"

"WHAT?"

"…I was just going to say we need some more paper."

"Well bloody go and get some!"

"You're blocking the way."

Sighing, Bakura got up in annoyance. "I'll go and get the bloody paper then!"

"…You could have just moved out the way, but seeing as you're offering, okay!" Marik beamed up at him, only annoying Bakura more as he went to the front of the room, mumbling under his breath, "Bloody new kid ordering me around, who does he think he is."

Getting to the front of the room, he picked up a piece of paper from the desk, and was about to head back, when something caught his attention.

Walking past the door, was a very wet, and stunned Ryou, closely followed by Melvin who had an amused look on his face.

Deciding he really didn't want to know, he shook his head and went back to Marik.

* * *

Ryou spent the end of first period in the nurse's office whilst she cut off the pieces of hair that had gotten burnt. After that, not a lot happened for the rest of the day, and Ryou was extremely happy that it was last period, although the lesson was definitely not one of his favourites.

History was, in Ryou's opinion, the dullest lesson he had ever had to endure in his life! He thought it would be interesting, filled with exciting facts that he would eagerly copy down, but he was very much mistaken.

Instead, he sat in the room, listening to the teacher who had the world's most monotone voice, ramble on and on for an hour, definitely not enjoyable.

He sat down in his desk, not bothering to take his notebook out and waited for the lesson to be over.

Not long after he had sat down did the teacher enter the room.

"Afternoon class, I have exciting news!" the teacher exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone, which was greeted with a groan from the class. "Now don't be like that, you really will enjoy this news! Next month, the principle has allowed us to take a trip to England!" At this, a lot of the student's heads lifted, including Ryou's. His family originated from England, but moved shortly after their mother's death. Ryou missed England quite a bit, so this news definitely intrigued him. "Of course, a small fee will be due in order to cover travel expenses, all the information is included in the letter, please return them by the 31st of September." The classroom immediately filled with excited conversation between friends, Ryou turned to look at Bakura.

"'Kura! Can you believe that? England! Won't it be great to go back!" Ryou was practically bouncing with excitement.

"I suppose, it'll be an experience to say the least."

"Don't you miss it Bakura?" Ryou asked, his excitement dying a little.

"Sometimes, I try not to think of it." Ryou nodded, knowing Bakura was thinking about their mother, and turned to Marik instead.

"Hey, do you think you'll be going on the trip?"

"Most likely, lemme ask Melvin." Marik punched his brother on the shoulder, gaining a glare from the taller boy, which resulted in Marik rolling his eyes, before asking, "Are we going on the trip?"

"I suppose, hey creampuff." Ryou blushed at the nickname. "Are you going?"

"It's more than likely!" Ryou said, beaming as the teacher came around with the permission slips. Taking one, Ryou scanned the small sheet of paper for information. Upon discovering the cost, his face fell slightly. "It's really expensive, 'Kura can we afford it?" he asked, passing the letter to his brother.

"Hmm, we probably have enough for one of us, without asking dad." Bakura replied in a bored voice.

"Oh, well that sucks! Only one of us can go."

"Well…perhaps not" Marik's said.

"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean, we could find a way to raise the money."

"How exactly?"

"Well, me and Ryou could do some art work and sell it, there's a few weeks until the slips need to be handed in, so there's plenty of time."

"That's actually not a bad idea, wow Marik, you actually had a good idea for once." Marik blushed slightly at Bakura's stunned appearance, before gathering his usual sassy attitude together.

"No need to seem so surprised Bakura! I have them all the time! You just never listen to me!"

"Of course I bloody listen to you! It's hard to ignore such an annoying voice."

"My voice is not annoying!"

"I beg to differ"

"Oh, will you two please shut up!" Melvin huffed in annoyance. Two pair's eyes fell on the tall Egyptian with irritated expressions.

"This is none of your business Melvin!" Marik snapped, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry brother; did I interrupt your precious 'Bakura time'? I am truly sorry, please, continue flirting," Melvin said, smirking slightly.

"Wh-what? No! Don't be so ridiculous!" Marik's face tinted red again, whereas Bakura just looked smug.

"Why, Marik darling, I never knew you felt that way," Bakura stated, leaning across the table to stroke the hand Marik had on their desk.

"B-Bakura! Don't be an asshole!" Marik looked horrified as he snapped his hand back; Ryou decided it was a good time to step in.

"Urm…Marik? Can you tell me more about your plan?" Ryou asked as calmly as he could, although he was intrigued, did Marik actually have a thing for his brother?

"Plan…oh! The plan! Yes well, I thought, seeing as we finished our art project early, we could meet up after school and do some paintings and what not, and at the weekend sell them somehow."

"Yeah! That sounds like a good plan! Thanks Marik!" Ryou smiled sweetly at the tanned boy. 'I hope this works out; it wouldn't feel right if only one of us went to England.' Ryou thought, sighing to himself as the teacher returned to the front of the room to continue with the lesson.

* * *

**A/N: Oooooh! Not so innocent little Ryou huh? But I don't think anyone could stay innocent with Melvin around :3**

**Just so you guys know, the reason I haven't said a price, is because I am waaay too lazy to think of one XD, if any one has any suggestions, please feel free to let me know, See y'all next week!**


	5. All Work, No Play

**A/N: Wow! I'm uploading a day early! What is happening! **

** Thanks to Uwayna35 and Runerose498 for helping me with the trip price. I decided to make it 25,709yen (£200). Just pretend Seto made a donation to the school for publicity purposes or something, which is why its quite cheap. They'll also be going for a week, so I hope that clears everything up XD. **

**Also, in this chapter, I have them set up a market stall, I have no idea whether you can do that in Japan…but for the purposes of this story, lets pretend you can. Okay? Great! Enjoy! :D**

* * *

The rest of the week had passed in a flash, and before Ryou knew it, it was the weekend. Ryou and Bakura had immediately rang their father the night they got home from school to see how much money they had for the trip, unfortunately, Bakura's suspicion was correct; they only had enough money for one of them to go. Discovering this news, Ryou and Marik spent every single day after school painting and drawing to try and raise the extra money they needed. To say he was exhausted was an understatement.

They had agreed to go down to the market and set up a stall to hopefully sell the art in which they had spent countless hours completing, they even managed to convince Bakura and Melvin to come along and help.

It was 9am; the Ishtar's had agreed to meet the British twins at their house for 9:30, so they could set things up early. Unfortunately, Bakura still wasn't up.

"BAKURA! THEY'LL BE HERE IN HALF AN HOUR! WILL YOU WAKE UP?" Ryou yelled, banging on the door repeatedly. There was a muffled groan from the other side, but apart from that, Bakura made no attempt to get out of bed.

Sighing, Ryou gave up his attempts to drag his brother out of bed, and went downstairs to make himself some breakfast.

Finishing off his toast, Ryou went into the kitchen to clean up, when he heard the doorbell ring. Getting up from the couch, Ryou went to the door to let in who he assumed would be the Egyptian twins.

However, he was only greeted by an extremely hyper Marik.

"Hey, where's Melvin?" Ryou questioned.

"He's in the car." Marik pointed over his shoulder, and sure enough, Melvin was sat in the car, looking half asleep.

"Well, at least your brother is coming," Ryou said, sighing again.

"What do you mean? Is Bakura not coming?" Marik asked, looking confused.

"Well no, seeing as he's still in bed," Ryou stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh no! No way is he getting out of this! He promised!" and with that, Marik stormed upstairs.

* * *

"BAKURA! OI! BAKURA! GET UP! DON'T MAKE ME BREAK THIS DOOR DOWN!" came Marik's voice from outside his room, along with the repetitive bang of his fists.

Groaning, Bakura replied, "PISS OFF MARIK! I HARDLY GOT ANY SLEEP LAST NIGHT! I AM NOT GETTING UP YET!"

"FINE! YOU ASKED FOR IT!" the bangs got harder as Marik pushed his full body weight onto the door to try and knock it down.

Sighing at the others stupidity, Bakura got up to open the door to tell Marik to fuck off in person. Standing up, he felt a slight shiver as the air hit his skin (he sleeps with nothing on apart from boxers), but shrugged it off as he head over to the door.

Just as Bakura reached for the handle, Marik had somehow managed to break it open. Tripping over his own feet, Marik's arms flailed as he tried to find something to grab onto, the only thing being Bakura. The force from Marik crashing onto him sent Bakura to the ground with a thud.

Moaning, neither of them could move as they took in their situation. Marik had his face planted in Bakura's bare chest, as he straddled his torso. Bakura's arms had landed on Marik's waist. He looked down at the Egyptian with a scowl on his face, to see said boy staring at him, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

Unfortunately, Ryou thought that moment would be a good time to check on them.

"Hey guys, I heard a thud, are you…oh" he trailed off as a very un-Ryou-like smirk lit up his face. "I see, well, just come down when you're finished, but don't take too long." His brother gave Bakura a wink, before hurrying back downstairs.

Feeling utterly irritated, Bakura looked back at Marik.

"Marik?"

"Urr..yeah?"

"Get. Off. Me." He growled.

"Oh, urm, yeah." Marik managed to stand up relatively quickly, Bakura just watched as he reached the doorway. "Just, you know, don't take too long," And with that, he was gone.

"What an idiot." A small smile rested on his lips as he sub-consciously remembered what happened moments ago, until his usual scowl replaced it.

Figuring he wouldn't get back to sleep now, even if he tried, he started to get ready for the _exciting_ day ahead.

* * *

By the time they reached the stall, it was already 10:00am. Rushing around, Marik and Ryou worked at a super speed to try and get everything ready in time, whilst Bakura and Melvin watched. Neither of them was overly ecstatic about helping out, and had refused to do anything before 11:30am. Ryou and Marik had easily agreed to this, seeing as it was a blessing for them to be there in the first place.

Once the stall looked presentable enough, the smaller boys called their twins over to stand with them. The stall definitely stood out from the others, being the brightest and the most colourful, they just hoped it would be enough to attract the attention of potential buyers.

At around 11:45 the market started to get a lot busier, which was a relief to the four boys who had been doing practically nothing for the whole morning.

"Finally!" Melvin exclaimed as he saw two people walk over to their stall, which Ryou immediately recognised.

A small boy with black star pointed hair, purple tips, and blonde streaks hanging down his face, walked straight over to a painting of the duel monsters card- the Dark Magician Girl. He was practically drooling over it before a girl of medium height with short brown hair called Téa, put her hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his daydream.

"Hey Ryou!" Ryou knew her from his Maths class, she was a nice girl, but was annoyingly over-friendly.

"Hey Téa, Yugi," he said with a small wave, "See anything you're interested in?

"I like this one," Yugi pointed to the Dark Magician Girl, "Did you draw these? They're amazing!"

Ryou chuckled slightly at Yugi's awe struck face. "Thanks, Marik and I did them together," he said, pointing to Marik who was beside him.

"Wow! You're both really talented!" Téa said, looking equally as impressed.

"I think I'll take this one, how much?" Yugi asked.

Ryou blushed slightly at the compliment, before replying, "615.46 yen please."

Yugi handed over the money before leaving, looking at the painting with the same love-struck expression as before.

High-fiving Ryou, Marik cheered "WOO! First sale of the day."

"I know!" Ryou said beaming, he was nervous other people wouldn't like his art work, but seeing Yugi and Téa's reaction, he knew he didn't have to worry. He turned around to see Melvin and Bakura standing in silence, looking equally as bored as each other.

"Hey you two!" he called over to them, "Why don't you go and attract some people?"

"Urm..Ryou," Marik turned to him, giving him a sceptical look, "Melvin isn't exactly the most sociable person."

"Don't worry Marik! I'm sure he'll be fine!" Ryou turned back around, to see Melvin giving a death glare to an innocent child who had stopped to admire the stall. "Yeah…probably best if you and 'Kura go then."

"What? Why me and him!"

"Because, one of us needs to stay here to supervise the stall, and I'm sick of seeing Bakura, I live with him."

"But you're used to him!" Marik stressed, hoping Ryou would change his mind, as a few customers came over to the stall.

"Sorry Marik, I'm busy, just go," Ryou then turned around, completely ignoring the Egyptian boy. Sighing in annoyance, Marik made his way over to Bakura to tell him the _brilliant_ news.

* * *

Bakura saw the blond haired boy approaching him with a frown on his face.

"What's up with you?"

"I've been forced to attract customers with you," he turned to his brother, "Melvin, go and help Ryou at the front."

Within seconds, Melvin was with Ryou, grinning a rather creepy grin, as he tried to help out. Bakura and Marik gave him an odd look for this out of character behaviour, but shrugged it off.

"Come on! We need to get more customers!" he grabbed onto Bakura's wrist to pull him along.

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on a second! How exactly are we going to do that?"

"I don't know! Shout at people or something?"

"Oh yes Marik! Let's go and shout at people! That will definitely make them want to come over and buy our stuff!" Bakura replied sarcastically, earning another frown from Marik.

"Shut up! You know that's not what I meant!" Marik must of realised he was still holding onto Bakura's wrist, as he let go rather quickly, a blush coating his cheeks.

Noticing, Bakura moved forwards to Marik's ear, "Aww Marik, I was rather enjoying that," he purred seductively. **(1)**

Marik visibly shivered, before an even stronger blush coated his face.

"W-what the h-hell B-Bakura!" he stuttered, earning a loud laugh from Bakura, he loved teasing and winding up Marik more than anyone else. He didn't really know why; it was probably the reaction he got.

"Come on, let's go," the white haired teen walked off, Marik seemed to hesitate, before following after.

* * *

"Thank you!" Ryou said to their second customer of the day, Mai Valentine.

"We seem to be doing well so far!" Ryou beamed over at Melvin, who still looked slightly bored, despite his attempts at being enthusiastic. "Sorry about this…you didn't have to come if you didn't want to…"

This seemed to grab Melvin's attention; he looked over to Ryou who had a sad expression on his face. "No, it's alright creampuff, I'm just tired."

"And bored," Ryou added.

"Well, yeah, but that's not your fault," Melvin tried to give what he thought was a smile, but it just looked creepy.

Ryou was about to protest that it was, indeed his fault, that Melvin was bored, but a customer came over to the stall at that moment. He was a short, very fat man with ginger hair.

"Hey there! See anything you like?" Ryou asked, beaming at the man.

The man ignored him and continued looking at the paintings, pulling out a cake from his pocket and taking an enormous bite.

Ryou heard what sounded like a choking noise, looking over at Melvin; he saw the taller boy was biting down on his finger to stop himself from laughing at the man's appearance. Ryou elbowed him and turned his attention to the man, who was now pointing at one of the paintings.

"So..you like that one?" the man nodded, and took another bite out of the cake. "Right, that's 770.46 yen please." The man took out the money, handed it over to Ryou and left.

As soon as the man was gone, Melvin broke into a fit of laughter, causing Ryou to giggle slightly as well.

"Well, that was certainly odd, I wonder why he didn't talk."

"Because, the fat bastard was too busy shoving cake in his face!" Melvin's laughter increased and Ryou frowned a little.

"Melvin! He probably has one of those conditions where you can't talk!"

"Oh yeah? Then why's he talking to that woman over there?" Ryou looked over, and saw that the man was conversing animatedly with a woman, who was equally as short and fat.

"Oh…well then that's really just rude."

"Did it bother you? I can go and sort him out if you like?" Melvin started to leave, panicking slightly, Ryou reached out and grabbed his arm.

"No! No! Melvin! It's fine! Really!"

Melvin turned around to look at the smaller boy, with slight disappointment in his eyes.

"Aww come on creampuff!"

"No! He might want to return the painting if you do! And we can't afford him to!" Ryou stressed.

Noticing the panic in the smaller boy's eyes, Melvin decided to give up, just as someone else was making their way over to the stall. He was a small boy, with wild black hair.

"Mokuba? What are you doing here?" Ryou asked as the extremely rich raven haired boy came over to the stall, considering the amount of money the Kaiba's had, it was odd to see them in a market.

"Hey Ryou, I'm being a present for Seto's birthday, he said he didn't want anything, but that won't stop me!" he beamed at Ryou and continued scanning over the paintings.

"Woah! Is that a painting of a Blue Eyes? That's perfect! How much?"

"641.55 yen"

"Awesome! Here you go, keep the change" Mokuba handed Ryou the money, picked up the painting and left.

"Wow, he gave us 1282.98yen!" Ryou said beaming at Melvin.

If things kept going like this, they were sure to have the England money in no time!

* * *

"Come check out our stall! Beautiful paintings for all the family!" Marik continued to shout at people walking nearby, much to Bakura's amusement

"You know fluffy, you could help!" Marik said, thoroughly irritated that he had been doing all the work.

"You seem to be doing just fine on your own," Bakura replied, smirking.

"That's not the point! You haven't done anything all day!"

"So? I'm not really needed."

"I need you to help! Look, see those children over there, go and talk to them."

"Why the bloody hell should I tal-"

"Just do it!" Marik gave Bakura a push in their direction, folding his arms and waiting expectantly.

Bakura sighed, knowing Marik wouldn't give up any time soon. He walked over to the group of children who looked around 8-10 years old. Putting on the biggest grin he could, he spoke.

"Hey kids! Come and visit our paintings stall, and nobody gets hurt!" he didn't stop smiling as he pulled out a small pocket knife, and flicked the blade for the children to see.

Simultaneously, the kids screamed and ran away with looks of horror on their face. Bakura doubled over, laughing his head off like a maniac.

"What the frig did you do!" Marik asked, looking completely horrified by the children's reaction.

"Nothing, just taught those little _darlings_ what it's like in the real world." He looked lovingly at the blade, before putting it back in his pocket. Marik's expression, if possible, grew even more mortified.

"What the hell is wrong with you? They couldn't have been any older than 10! You psychopath!"

Bakura only shrugged at Marik's reaction, and walked off.

"Where are you going now?"

"To attract more customers, you told me I needed to help you," Bakura replied matter-of-factly.

"No friggin way are you helping if that's your idea of attracting customers!" Marik replied, before walking over to some people and talking to them.

Bakura chuckled at Marik's reaction; this would definitely be an amusing day.

* * *

At 6 o'clock, the four decided to call it a day and head back to Ryou and Bakura's to count the money.

After ten minutes of checking, Ryou finally called the others into the living room, to deliver the news.

"We..urm…we didn't raise enough," he said with an extremely disappointed expression on his face.

"Aww damn! How much did we make?" Marik asked, looking equally as upset.

"19239.6 yen, we need another 6469.4 yen to reach the target," he sighed, his hopes of him and Bakura returning to England gone.

"6469.4 did you say?" Melvin asked.

"Yeah why?"

"Stay there," and with that, Melvin left.

"Where's he going?" Ryou asked, slightly confused.

"No idea, don't worry Ryou, I'm sure we can raise the money some other way?" Marik said reassuringly.

"I suppose…but I don't think I could take another week like this, I'm exhausted," Ryou sighed.

"We can afford for one of us to go, you can go in my place," Bakura spoke, he wasn't bothered about going, he knew it meant a lot to Ryou.

"Yeah…but I don't know if I could handle it without you 'Kura…all the memories…" Ryou trailed off, Bakura nodded understandingly.

After around an hour, Melvin finally came back, with a grin on his face.

"Hey creampuff!"

"Hey Melvin," Ryou spoke less enthusiastically, he was still upset.

"Don't look so miserable! Hold out your hands and close your eyes." Ryou gave him a confused look, before obeying. Melvin emptied the contents of his pocket into the smaller boy's hands. "Open your eyes"

Ryou did so, and when he saw what was in them, he gasped and beamed up at Melvin. "How much-"

"6469.4, just enough for the trip if I'm not mistaken."

Ryou put the money on the table, before jumping on Melvin, throwing his arms around his neck. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" he screamed, squeezing the tall boy to death.

Melvin smiled a little, wrapping his arms around Ryou's waist. "No problem creampuff."

Ryou pulled back, although somewhat reluctantly, a small blush coating his cheeks as he turned around to face Bakura.

"Come on 'Kura! We need to ring Dad!" he grabbed his arm and practically dragged his brother into the hall.

Melvin sat down on the couch next to his brother, who was smirking at him.

"What the fuck's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, but tell me Melvin, how long have you been in love with Ryou?"

"I am not in love with Ryou!"

"Oh yes you are, you're in looooooooveeeee"

"Shut up shit head"

"Melvin's in loooooove Melvin's in loooooveee!" Marik replied in a sing song voice.

Melvin threw a pillow at his brother's head.

"Oi!" Marik yelled rubbing his head.

"You really are weak, it was just a pillow."

"Whatever, where did you even get the money?"

"Ishizu."

"What do you mean 'Ishizu'? She just gave you the money?"

"Well, kind of, I borrowed it off her; she's giving me a job at the museum." At this, Marik burst into laughter. "What's so funny?"

"You…working…at the museum," Marik replied whilst laughing.

"Shut up!" Melvin replied, extremely annoyed.

"Oh man, you must really love Ryou if you're resorting to work!" Marik said after finally calming down. Melvin didn't bother responding, but instead smacked his brother upside the head, just as Ryou and Bakura came in.

"Dad's really happy about the news! Thank you both for helping us!" he smiled warmly at both Egyptians before continuing, "Do you guys want to stay over? As like a celebration for getting the work done?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure! Why not?…oh, but we don't have any of our stuff." Marik replied.

"We have spare toothbrushes and stuff like that, it's only for one night, what do you say?"

Marik looked over at Melvin. "Should we?"

"Yeah, might as well, we have nothing better to do."

Ryou's grin grew even bigger.

"Urm…Ryou? Just one small problem, where will they sleep?"

"Marik can sleep in your bed, Melvin can sleep in mine," Ryou stated simply, causing all three boys eyes to fall on him, Bakura and Marik with questionable expressions, Melvin looking more than a little bit eager.

"I am not sharing a bed with him!" Bakura yelled, causing Ryou to look confused.

"I didn't mean sharing! I meant because they're guest they can sleep in the beds, we'll sleep on the couches," Ryou explained. Marik and Bakura both sighed in relief, a flicker off disappointment crossed Melvin's features, but he quickly covered it.

"Why the bloody hell should I give up my bed for him?"

"Because it's what good hosts do 'Kura"

Bakura flopped down on the couch, muttering something that sounded like 'bloody inconsiderate if you ask me.'

Ryou sighed at his brother's behaviour, before grinning again. This would be his first sleepover! Today had definitely turned out better than expected.

* * *

**(1)- I know Bakura didn't tease Marik about him landing on him, but he had only just woken up and was tired. Can you blame him?**

**A/N: Melvin's inlooooooooveeeee haha, hope you enjoyed :)**


	6. Sleepover Part 1

**A/N: This is just a short chapter, to set the scene for Chapter 7.I thought it wouldn't be fair to make you wait a week for this, so here it is! And you'll get an update on Tuesday as normal! Aren't you lucky?**

**Anyway…On with the chapter!**

* * *

"What do you guys want to eat?" asked Ryou, who was currently in the kitchen with his head in the fridge, scanning for food.

"Is there any pizza?" Bakura yelled from his seat on the couch. The sound of freezer doors opening and closing sounded before Ryou let out a small 'Ah ha!'

"Yeah! We have meat feast and margherita! Is that okay with everyone?"

A 'yeah' came from the three teenagers, Ryou shoved the pizzas in the oven, before re-entering the living room.

"Do you guys want to watch a movie?"

"Sure! What've you got?" Melvin questioned.

"Loads, depends on what genre you want to watch?"

"Anything as long as it's not the lovey-dovey shit, I can't stand that!"

"Suuuuuure you can't Melvin," Marik said sarcastically, smirking, earning a glare from his brother.

"What do you two want to watch?" Ryou asked Marik and Bakura.

"Anything, I'm not fused," Bakura said, stretching further into the couch.

"Me either, I'll be back in a second, I'm going to the toilet," Marik said, getting off the couch and heading in the direction of the stairs.

"Okay, 'Kura can you pour some drinks please? Melvin you can help me pick the movie." Melvin looked pleased with the demand, unlike Bakura.

"Why do I have to? You're doing a perfectly good job of playing the host," He complained.

"Because, you haven't done anything since we've gotten home!"

Knowing he wouldn't win the argument, and due to the fact he was quite thirsty, Bakura made his way into the kitchen.

"Come and help me choose," Ryou told Melvin as he knelt in front of the cabinet. Melvin went over and sat on the floor next to Ryou, who was pulling out movies he thought they could watch. When a movie called Mamma Mia was pulled out, Melvin's eyes went wide and a horrified expression graced his features.

"NO WAY AM I WATCHING THAT AGAIN!" he yelled, causing Ryou to jump.

"Why not?" he asked, utterly confused at how a movie could affect someone so much.

"Marik has made me watch that fucking movie about 50 times! Not to mention him singing all the way through it! It's his favourite! Hide it before he sees! For all our sakes."

"I didn't know Marik was into musicals," Ryou said, putting the DVD into the back of the cabinet.

"Oh yeah, singing is like his favourite hobby, he can't sing to save his life though."

Just then, Bakura entered the room carrying four cans of coke.

"Who can't sing to save their life?" he asked, placing the drinks on the table.

"Marik," Ryou replied, still searching for a movie.

"Interesting…"

"How about this?" Ryou asked, pulling out a movie entitled Wolverine.

"Looks okay, hey snowball, what do you think of Wolverine?" Melvin asked, taking the DVD case from Ryou, and throwing it at Bakura's head.

Rubbing his head and glaring at Melvin, Bakura nodded in approval and chucked it back at Melvin, who dodged it and gave Bakura a smirk before handing it back to Ryou.

"Great! Now all we have to do is wait for Marik, I wonder what's taking him so long…"

* * *

Marik walked up the stairs, looking for the bathroom. He had used it before, but couldn't really remember where it was.

Stopping at the first door he came in contact with, he flung it open, and to his dismay, discovered a bed. Ruling that room out, he continued his search.

After yet another failed attempt, he sighed, wondering if he should just go downstairs and ask where the bathroom was. Who knew there were so many rooms up here?

There were two doors left, a 50:50 chance. Opening the first one, he was frustrated to find it was not the room he was looking for. Not believing how unlucky one person could be, he was about to close the door, when something in the corner caught his eye. His face lit up with excitement as he realised exactly what it was. Closing the door, he made a mental note to bring up said item at some point, before leaving and finally going to the bathroom.

* * *

"Hey guys, sorry I took so long, you have so many friggin rooms I couldn't find the bathroom!" Marik replied as he came down the stairs.

"It's fine, we're watching Wolverine once the pizzas are done, they should be ready any minut-" Ryou was interrupted by a 'ping' noise coming from the kitchen. "Ah, there we go, one second." He went into the kitchen to get the pizzas, as Bakura started to get the DVD ready.

As Ryou entered, Bakura hit the play button, and they all dug into the pizza, Bakura slightly more viciously than everyone else.

Marik watched in disgust as Bakura tore into his slice, ripping it apart as tiny pieces of meat went flying.

Noticing the eyes on him, Bakura turned to glare at Marik.

"What's your problem?" he spat, literally. Marik wiped the spit from his face, looking even more grossed out than before.

"The way you eat! That's the problem!"

Bakura gave him a blank look. "What's wrong with the way I eat?"

"You honestly don't know?"

"No."

"It's horrible! There are bits of meat and sauce flying everywhere! Slow down a little!"

"Well, if the way I eat is so bad, how do you eat?" Bakura inquired, annoyed. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way he ate.

Picking up a piece of pizza, Marik delicately bit into it, chewing the contents with his mouth closed before swallowing. He looked back up at Bakura with a smug expression.

"Simple," Marik stated, smirking.

"Shut up, your way is boring!" Bakura replied, tearing into his slice in an animalistic way. Marik rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Melvin.

"Shut up shit head, the movies starting."

Marik glared slightly at his brother, before turning his attention to the TV.

* * *

107 minutes later, the film had finished, and everyone was left with mixed feelings.

Melvin complained there wasn't enough blood, Marik and Ryou were sad about the ending, and Bakura didn't really care, having already seen the movie several times before.

"What should we do now?" Ryou asked, earning a shrug from Melvin and Bakura.

"I don't know, what are the options?"

"Well, we could watch another movie, or we could play a video game or we could-" Ryou was cut off half way, as Marik started to speak.

"Sing karaoke!" all three pairs of eyes fell on him as he said this, with obvious panic showing.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Bakura and Melvin shouted together, Ryou frowned at their rudeness, and took a more sensitive approach.

"Urm…Marik…that's a great idea and all, but…we…urm…don't have a karaoke machine!" he said quickly, hoping Marik would buy the excuse.

"Yes you do, I saw one upstairs," He beamed, looking at the others with hopeful eyes. "Come on guys! It'll be SO friggin fun!"

"Marik, there is no way in hell I am letting you sing!" Melvin told him, and by the look Marik was receiving, he obviously wasn't backing down anytime soon.

"Come oonnnn brother! Pleaaaasseee I'm not THAT bad!" he whined.

"…I don't think a few songs could hurt?" Ryou said sheepishly, looking down at the floor, he kind of wanted an excuse to get the karaoke machine out; he never used it when it was just him and Bakura, and quite honestly, he enjoyed using it.

"No Ryou, you heard what Melvin said! If Marik's singing voice is anything like his speaking voice, we're all doomed!" Bakura stressed, trying to get his brother to see sense.

"Is he really that bad?" Ryou asked, looking up at Melvin.

Seeing the pleading look on the smaller boys face, Melvin immediately began to melt.

"Well…I suppose not…I guess it gives us something to do…" With each word, his expression grew softer as he saw the hope light up in Ryou's eyes.

"WOO! I'LL GO AND GET IT!" Marik celebrated, getting up from his seat and running to the stairs, only to be stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist, and pulling him down to the ground with a yelp.

Turning around, Marik was face to face with Bakura, their noses practically touching as he spoke.

"No Marik."

"Yes Bakura! Me, Ryou and Melvin want to! You're out voted!" Marik argued back, he would get to sing tonight! No matter what!

"No! I bloody refuse to listen to you sing!" Bakura spat back, before turning to face Melvin, "And you! You've gone soft! I thought you of all people would be able to resist Ryou's pout!"

"Oh like anyone can!" Melvin growled back.

Noticing Bakura wasn't going to back down anytime soon, there was only one thing Marik could do, it worked on his brother sometimes…hopefully it would work on him too.

"Pleeaassee!" Marik begged, pulling the perfect pair of puppy dog eyes anyone had ever seen! (Apart from Ryou's, of course)

Bakura's expression seemed to soften, before it was replaced with the same scowl as before.

"No!"

"Oh my RA! You are stubborn!" Marik replied, sighing. "What if I make this more interesting? How about sing truth or dare?" this caught Bakura's attention.

"What the bloody hell is 'sing truth or dare'?"

"Well, it's like normal truth or dare, but instead, the dares involve singing and dancing!" Marik chirped, this was obviously one of his favourite games.

"That sounds stupid."

"Don't be such a buzz kill!"

"I am not a buzz kill!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I am not"

Seeing this argument would continue for a while, Ryou decided to intervene.

"Bakura? Please? It'll be fun, and we have nothing better to do," Ryou pleaded, joining Marik in giving the most helpless look at his brother he could.

Turning down one set of puppy dog eyes was bad enough; turning down two was something that could simply not be done. It was Bakura's one weakness after all.

"…fine."

Ryou and Marik practically jumped for joy at this, running up the stairs to retrieve the machine.

"And you call me soft," Melvin snorted once their brothers had left.

"Get lost Melvin," Bakura grumbled.

Oh god, what had he got himself into?

* * *

**A/N: I seriously can't wait to write the next part of this! XD I have Marik's song all sorted, but if any of you want to make any suggestions, feel free!**


	7. Sleepover Part 2

**A/N: I've been off school today with a cold *sniffle* but lucky for you guys, that means I've had the whole day to write the chapter, which means I've updated a day early! Yaaaay!**

** This chapter was insanely fun to write! I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Thanks to those of you who gave song suggestions! *hands cookies* **

**On with the chapter!**

* * *

**Previously on Unexpected...**

_"Bakura? Please? It'll be fun, and we have nothing better to do," Ryou pleaded, joining Marik in giving the most helpless look at his brother he could._

_Turning down one set of puppy dog eyes was bad enough; turning down two was something that could simply not be done. It was Bakura's one weakness after all._

_"…fine."_

_Ryou and Marik practically jumped for joy at this, running up the stairs to retrieve the machine._

_"And you call me soft," Melvin snorted once their brothers had left._

_"Get lost Melvin," Bakura grumbled._

_Oh god, what had he got himself into?_

* * *

Marik and Ryou giggled like little school girls as they came into the living room, karaoke machine held between them.

"Is it hard to set up?" Marik asked, putting the machine in front of the TV.

"No, it just plugs into the TV," Ryou replied, handing Marik a book with a list of songs. "These are all the songs we can play on here."

"Woah! You have loads!" Marik said, sitting down on the floor with an awe struck expression, as he looked at the thick book he had just been handed.

"Believe it or not, Bakura and I used to use it quite a bit when we were younger," Ryou said fondly, as Melvin burst out laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! So Bakura used to sing 'quite a bit' did he?"

"Piss off Melvin, I was 7 at the time!" Bakura growled back.

"Awww, innocent little 'Kura!" Marik smirked, looking up from the book and patting Bakura's hair.

All Bakura did was glare at the Egyptian's stupidity.

"Ahh! It's ready! So how are we going to decide who goes first?" Ryou asked, sitting on the floor next to Marik.

"We could play rock, paper, scissors? You and I play, Bakura and Melvin play, then the two winners play each other, and the same with the losers," Marik suggested.

"Good idea! Okay let's go!" Ryou said happily as he and Marik put their hands in front of each other.

"Rock, paper, scissors," they said in unison.

Marik opened his hand to reveal paper, and was sad to find that Ryou had chosen scissors.

"Damn it! Okay, Bakura, Melvin, your go."

"Rock, paper, scissors," they said half-heartedly, as they threw out their chosen item.

Bakura had chosen rock, but Melvin, like his brother, had chosen paper.

"Dammit," Bakura mumbled, not happy with the fact he lost, he never liked losing, which is one of the reasons he never backed down from a challenge. _Ever._

In the end, Melvin ended up losing to Ryou, and Bakura won against Marik.

"Okay so the order is, me, Melvin, Bakura, Marik," Ryou said, receiving nods from the others as they sat in a circle on the floor.

"Okay Ryou, truth or dare," Marik asked with eager eyes.

"Truth."

"Okay…" Marik said, thinking hard about what to ask Ryou, as Melvin interrupted.

"Have you ever had a wet dream?" he asked bluntly, earning a glare from his brother for taking his turn, and a gasp from the smaller boy, as his face went bright red.

"Wh-what!"

"Answer the question or do a forfeit dare, which will be ten times worse," Melvin replied simply, making Ryou whimper.

"F-fine…y-yes…I-I have…" He replied, blushing an even deeper crimson, and avoiding eye contact with the other boys.

Bakura's eye went wide; he thought his brother was innocent. He definitely didn't except him to have _those_ kinds of thoughts.

"Oh really creampuff, who was it about?" Melvin asked slyly.

"N-None of your business!" _'If only he knew…'_ Ryou mentally sighed. "A-anyway…M-Melvin y-your go, truth or dare?" Ryou said, slowly turning back to a normal colour.

"Dare," Melvin replied confidently.

"I dare you to…sing Mama by My Chemical Romance," Ryou said, as it was the only song he could remember from the book.

"Okay," Melvin stood up and walked over to the karaoke machine, putting in the disc and grabbing the microphone as the song started.

_Mama, we all go to hell_

_Mama, we all go to hell_

_I'm writing this letter and wishing you well_

_Mama we all go to hell._

_Mama we're all gonna die_

_Mama we're all gonna die_

_Stop asking me questions; I'd hate to see you cry_

_Mama we're all gonna die_

Melvin strutted across the front of the living room, surprising everyone with his voice, it was amazingly good. The music started to pick up as Melvin continued:

_And when we go don't blame us, yeah_

_We'll let the flames just bathe us, yeah_

_You made us oh so famous_

_We'll never let you go_

_And when you go don't return to me, my love_

_Mama we're all full of lies_

_Mama we're meant for the flies_

_And right now they're building a coffin your size_

_Mama we're all full of lies_

He proceeded to walk over to Bakura as he sang in his face:

_Well mother what the war did to my legs and to my tongue_

_You should have raised a baby girl; I should have been a better son_

_If you could coddle the infection, they can amputate at once_

_You should've been, I could've been a better son._

This received a smack in the face from Bakura. Scowling slightly, Melvin stood up straight to return strutting in front of the TV.

_And when we go, don't blame us, yeah_

_We'll let the fire just bathe us, yeah_

_You made us oh so famous,_

_We'll never let you go_

_She said, "You ain't no son of mine_

_For what you've done they're gonna find_

_A place for you, and just you mind_

_Your manners when you go_

_And when you go, don't return to me, my love"_

_That's right_

_Mama, we all go to hell_

_Mama, we all go to hell_

_It's really quite pleasant_

_Except for the smell_

_Mama, we all go to hell_

_Mama, mama, mama, oh_

_Mama, mama, mama, mama!_

Melvin walked forwards, until he was in Marik's face this time, softly whispering:

_And if you would call me your sweetheart_

_I'd maybe then sing you a song_

Before standing up and singing as loudly as possible:

_But there's shit that I've done with this fuck of a gun_

_You would cry out your eyes all along_

_We're all damned after all_

_Through fortune and flame we fall_

_And if you can stay then I'll show you the way_

_To return from the ashes you crawl_

_We all carry on_

_(we all carry on)_

_When our brothers in arms are gone_

_(when our brothers in arms are gone)_

_So raise your glass high for tomorrow we die_

_And return from the ashes you crawl_

As the song faded out, Melvin returned to his seat on the floor, looking extremely smug.

"Wow Melvin…that was amazing, you never told me you could sing!" Marik said in utter disbelief, he had known his brother all his life, and he had kept his talent hidden!

"Yeah well, I don't like singing much."

"You certainly seemed to enjoy it up there," Bakura pointed out, earning a glare from the tall Egyptian.

"Anyway," he growled, "Bakura, truth or dare."

"Dare."

Melvin's eye lit up as he said this, he had the perfect song.

"Sing Accidentally In Love by Counting Crows," he said, with a smirk.

Bakura's face dropped. "No way am I singing that! It's bloody girly!"

"Either sing that, or I'll make you sing something worse," Melvin replied smugly.

"..Fine," Bakura replied, sighing, as he stood up and walked over the machine.

Turning the right song on, the soft, catchy beat started to play as Bakura began singing very reluctantly.

_So she said what's the problem baby?_

_What's the problem, I don't know_

_Well, maybe I'm in love (love)_

_Think about it every time_

_I think about it_

_Can't stop thinking 'bout it_

Bakura's voice fit the song perfectly, and he sounded almost as good as Melvin had, it would have been even better if it weren't for the gruffness his voice held.

_How much longer will take to cure this?_

_Just to cure, cause I can't ignore it if it's love (love)_

_Makes me wanna turn around and face me but I don't know nothing 'bout love_

_Come on, come on_

_Turn a little faster_

_Come on, come on_

_The world will follow after_

_Come on, come on_

'_cause everybody's after love_

_So I said I'm a snowball running_

"HAHAHA! He said he was a snowball!" Melvin yelled, causing Bakura to stick his middle finger up, before he continued:

_Running down into the spring that's coming all this love_

_Melting under blue skies_

_Belting out sunlight_

_Shimmering love_

"This is the fucking sappiest thing I've ever heard…" Bakura mumbled under his breath.

"Just sing it!" Marik yelled back. Bakura sighed but continued nonetheless.

_Well baby I surrender_

_To the strawberry ice-cream_

_Never ever end all this love_

_Well I didn't mean to do it_

_But there's no escaping your love_

_These lines of lightening_

_Mean we're never alone_

_Never alone, no, no_

_Come on, come on_

_Move a little closer,_

_Come on, come on_

_I want to hear you whisper_

_Come on, come on_

_Settle down inside my love_

_Come on, come on_

_Jump a little higher_

_Come on, come on_

_If you feel a little lighter_

_Come on, come on_

_We were once upon a time in love_

_We're accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally in love_

_Accidentally_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_Accidentally_

Bakura sighed at how repetitive this song was, couldn't they think of better lyrics?

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_I'm in love, I'm in love_

_Accidentally_

_Come on, come on_

_Spin a little tighter_

_Come on, come on_

_And the world's a little brighter_

_Come on, come on_

_Just get inside her love_

_I'm in love_

Relieved that the song was finally done, Bakura sat down, as he was greeted by mock applause from Melvin.

"Well done _snowball_," He taunted, earning himself a cushion to the face.

"I thought it was pretty good 'Kura," Ryou said happily, but was ignored as Bakura turned to Marik.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Marik said beaming.

After thinking for a moment, he leant closer to Marik's ear, letting his breath tickle the shell, as he told Marik his dare.

Marik visibly shivered at the close contact, earning raised eyebrows from both Ryou and Melvin.

Marik widened his eyes at Bakura's song choice.

"N-No way! That is far too girly!"

"It's either that, or the forfeit song."

"What is the forfeit song?"

Once again, Bakura leaned close to Marik's ear. So close, Bakura's lips brushed against Marik's skin, making the Egyptian blush slightly.

"Okay! I'll do the friggin dare!" Marik said, getting up from his seat on the floor.

Once he had the right song, he turned his back on the others.

Ryou and Melvin looked extremely confused, but Bakura just grinned himself silly. This was obviously part of the dare.

As the music started, all three boys started laughing at the song choice, as Marik swung his hips to the beat.

_Let's go girls! Come on_

Came Marik's extremely nasally voice as he sung, turning his head so he was looking over his shoulder, shaking in time with the beat.

_I'm going out tonight-I'm feelin' alright_

_Gonna let it all hang out_

_Wanna make some noise-really raise my voice_

_Yeah, I wanna scream and shout_

_No inhibitions-make no conditions_

_Get a little outta line_

_I ain't gonna act politically correct_

_I only wanna have a good time_

Marik spun around to face the others, before dancing from side to side.

_Oh, oh, oh go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady_

_Men's shirts-short skirts_

_Oh, oh, oh really go wild yeah-doin' it in style_

_Oh, oh, oh get in the action-feel the attraction_

_Colour my hair-do what I dare_

_Oh, oh, oh I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel!_

_Man! I feel like a woman._

Marik strutted into the middle of the circle, facing Melvin and Ryou, his back to Bakura, as he swung his hips to the beat.

Bakura couldn't help but stare at Marik's perfect ass. '_Were his trousers always that tight…no…I shouldn't think like that…it's Marik!…but damn…' _he thought to himself, visibly drooling at the Egyptians backside.

Ryou didn't miss his brother staring quite lustfully at Marik's behind. Nudging Melvin slightly so Marik wouldn't see, he pointed to his brother. Melvin grew a wide smirk; he would save that information for later.

_The girls need a break-tonight we're gonna take_

_The chance to get out on the town_

_We don't need romance-we only wanna dance_

_We're gonna let our hair hang down_

Bakura managed to snap out of it, as Marik turned around, flashing him a cheeky smile, before swaying to the front of the room once again.

_The best thing about being a woman_

_Is the prerogative to have a little fun!_

_Oh, oh, oh go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady_

_Men's shirts-short skirts_

_Oh, oh, oh really go wild yeah-doin' it in style_

_Oh, oh, oh get in the action-feel the attraction_

_Colour my hair-do what I dare_

_Oh, oh, oh I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel!_

_Man! I feel like a woman._

_The best thing about being a woman_

_Is the prerogative to have a little fun (fun, fun)_

_Oh, oh, oh go totally crazy-forget I'm a lady_

_Men's shirts-short skirts_

_Oh, oh, oh really go wild yeah-doin' it in style_

_Oh, oh, oh get in the action-feel the attraction_

_Colour my hair-do what I dare_

_Oh, oh, oh I wanna be free-yeah, to feel the way I feel!_

_Man! I feel like a woman._

_I get totally crazy_

_Can you feel it?_

_Come, come, come on baby_

_I feel like a woman_

Marik ended the song with his hand on his hip, his head cocked to the side, and his left arm stuck out in front of him, holding the microphone.

As soon as the music was over, he turned to Bakura.

"Was that 'sassy' enough for you?" he asked, looking quite irritated.

"It was exceptional," Bakura replied winking, receiving a smack from Marik.

Ryou giggled at his brother, before he realised it was his go.

"Well Ryou, truth or dare," Marik asked once he had sat down.

"Dare…" He replied sheepishly, not wanting to go for truth again, but not looking forward to what the others had install for him.

"Call Me Maybe- Carly Rae Jepson," Marik said, earning groans from Melvin and Bakura.

"That song is so annoying!" Bakura whined, almost pleading Marik to change his mind.

"I don't care; Ryou is going to sing it." Marik said, looking back at Ryou.

Although he didn't like the song, he had to admit, it was a lot better than he was expecting to get.

Sheepishly, he stood up and flicked to the right song on the machine, before taking the microphone as the music began:

_I threw a wish in the well_

_Don't ask I'll never tell_

_I looked at you as it fell_

_And now you're in my way_

_I'd trade my soul for a wish_

_Pennies and dimes for a kiss_

_I wasn't looking for this_

_But now you're in my way_

Ryou's voice was soft and sweet, very different from his brothers. He sung quietly, glancing over to Melvin, who gave him an encouraging smile.

Feeling a confidence build up inside of him, he moved to the middle of the circle, staring at pointedly at Melvin.

_Your stare was holdin'_

_Ripped jeans, skin was showin'_

_Hot night, wind was blowin'_

_Where you think you're goin', baby?_

_Hey, I just met you_

_And this is crazy_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

_And all the other boys_

_Try to chase me_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

As he said the last line, he put his free hand up to his ear, as if it were a phone and tilted his head, his hair swayed as he did the action. Melvin smiled softly at how cute he looked.

Ryou's confidence was growing as he started bouncing to the beat.

_You took your time with the call_

_I took no time with the fall_

_You gave me nothing at all_

_But still, you're in my way_

_I beg, and borrow and steal_

_Have foresight and it's real_

_I didn't know I would feel it_

_But it's in my way_

Ryou's actions grew bigger as he reached the second chorus, singing loudly and grinning down at Melvin, pretending he was singing at him and him alone

_Your stare was holdin'_

_Ripped jeans, skin was showin'_

_Hot night, wind was blowing_

_Where you think you're goin', baby?_

_Hey, I just met you_

_And this is crazy_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

_And all the other boys_

_Try to chase me_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

_Hey I just met you_

_And this is crazy_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

_And all the other boys_

_Try to chase me_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

_Before you came into my life_

_I missed you so bad_

_I missed you so bad_

_I missed you so, so bad_

_Before you came into my life_

_I missed you so bad_

_And you should know that_

_I missed you so, so bad_

As the music died down slightly, so did Ryou's dancing, as he looked away from Melvin's gaze-

_It's hard to look right_

_At you baby_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

-before it picked up again, and he was bouncing as enthusiastically as he was earlier, meeting Melvin's eyes with a gorgeous smile plastered on his face, turning the Egyptian to goo.

_Hey I just met you_

_And this is crazy_

_But here's my number_

_So call me maybe?_

_Before you came into my life_

_I missed you so bad_

_I missed you so bad_

_I missed you so, so bad_

_Before you came into my life_

_I missed you so bad_

_And you should know that_

_So call me maybe?_

As the music died down, the two boy's kept eye contact, before Bakura cleared his throat.

"Mind looking at us for a minute, Ryou?"

Blushing slightly, Ryou turned around, mumbling a sorry to Bakura and Marik, before putting the microphone next to the karaoke machine, and sitting back down.

"So..urm…Melvin…truth or dare?"

"Dare, as always," Melvin grinned.

"Oh...urm…I have no idea what song to pick, Bakura you choose," Ryou said sheepishly, as Melvin's grin faded, and Bakura smirked.

"Oh how about, Super Psycho Love by Simon Curtis." He knew Melvin would humiliate himself singing this.

"Sure," Melvin said feeling relived, he thought Bakura would be a lot crueller.

Picking up the microphone, a sensual beat started to play, catching Ryou's attention, he had a feeling this song would be sexual…

_Something lately drives me crazy_

_Has to do with how you make me_

_Struggle to get your attention_

_Calling you brings apprehension_

_Texts from and sex from you_

_Are things that are not so uncommon_

_Flirt with you, you're all about it_

_Tell me why I feel unwanted?_

Melvin's voice, being deep and husky, made the song sound a lot more erotic to Ryou, who couldn't help but stare as the Egyptian male swung his hips sexily to the beat.

_Damn, if you didn't want me back_

_Why'd you have to act like that?_

_It's confusing to the core_

'_Cause I know you want it_

_Oh, and if you don't want to be_

_Something substantial with me_

_Then why do you give me more?_

_Babe I know you want it_

Melvin's dancing increased as he started to sing the chorus

_Say that you want me everyday_

_That you want me everyway_

_That you need me_

_Got me trippin' super psycho love_

_Aim pull the trigger_

_Feel the pain getting bigger_

_Go insane from the bitter feeling_

_Trippin' super psycho love_

Melvin walked over to Ryou, leaning close to his face with half lidded eyes.

_Pull me off to darkened corners_

_Where all other eyes avoid us_

_Tell me how I mesmerise you_

_I love you and despise you_

_Back to the crowd where you ignore me_

_Bedroom eyes to those before me_

_How am I supposed to handle_

_Lit the fuse and missed the candle_

Standing up and licking his lips slowly, he moved to the front of the room again, leaving a very dazed Ryou behind.

_Damn if you wanna let me go_

_Baby please just let me know_

_You're not gonna get away with leading me on_

_Say that you want me everyday_

_That you want me everyday_

_That you need me_

_Got me trippin' super psycho love_

_Aim, pull the trigger_

_Feel the pain getting bigger_

_Go insane from the bitter feeling_

_Trippin' super psycho love_

Melvin then proceeded to run his free hand down his body, teasing and throwing his head back. Ryou knew he was drooling, but at that moment in time, he really didn't care.

_Say you want me_

_Say you need me_

_Tear my heart out_

_Slow and bleed me_

_You want me_

_You need me_

_You're gonna be with me_

_I know you want me too_

_I think you want me too_

_Please say you want me too_

_Because you're going to_

_Say that you want me everyday_

_That you want me everyway_

_That you need me_

_Got me trippin' super psycho love_

_Aim pull the trigger_

_Feel the pain getting bigger_

_Go insane from the bitter feeling_

_Trippin' super psycho love_

As the song finished, Melvin looked as smug as he had done the first time.

Ryou couldn't tear his eyes away from his tall form, swallowing hard as Melvin sat back down next to him.

Marik noticed Ryou's reaction and smirked, leaning over to Bakura.

"I think we know who Ryou's dream was about…" He said, looking over towards their brothers.

"No, that's ridiculous!" Bakura growled, not liking the look his brother was giving Melvin. _'It couldn't be true…could it?'_ Bakura scowled at the thought, but shook it off as Melvin spoke to him.

"Truth or dare snowball?"

"Stop calling me snowball!" he seethed; it was the stupidest nickname he had ever heard! "Truth" He wasn't going to get another dare from that idiot.

"Were you gawking at my brother's ass during his song?" Melvin smirked as he saw the visible discomfort on Bakura's face.

"W-what? N-no I bloody was not!" a faint blush appeared on his face, but was gone as soon as it had come. _'Shit, I didn't think anyone saw…'_

"Tell the truth Bakura," Melvin pressed, obviously seeing through Bakura's lie.

Bakura looked over at Marik, who was looking at him with wide eyes, his lips parted slightly.

Bakura mentally slapped himself as he thought how cute he looked like that _'what the fuck is happening to me…since when do I find people cute!' _he started to panic; everyone was waiting for an answer.

"So what if I was? It was right in my face! What else was I supposed to do…" he looked away from the others, as Melvin laughed.

"That doesn't mean you have to daydream about banging him!" he said in between roars of laughter, earning a glare.

"I definitely wasn't doing that!" There was some truth in that, the thought of _doing_ Marik hadn't crossed his mind! Until now…gods, what had gotten into him?

"Suuuuuure you weren't."

"Melvin, maybe you should drop it now…" Ryou said, sensing how uncomfortable his brother was.

"Yes, please do!" Marik squeaked for the first time since this topic had arisen.

"Fine, fine," Melvin grumbled.

"Marik, truth or dare," Bakura asked, not looking directly at him.

"Truth," Marik said, gaining shocked gasps and confused looks from the others.

"I thought the whole reason you were doing this was so you could sing?" Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I did, but that doesn't mean I can't switch it up a little does it?"

"I guess, well…I can't think of one, Ryou have got one?"

"No I don't…Melvin?" Ryou said slowly, hoping the Egyptian would go easy on his brother.

"Oh I have one," He said, smirking evilly at his brother. "Would you want to have sex with Bakura?"

"WHAT? WHAT KIND OF A QUESTION IS THAT! OF COURSE I WOULDN'T," Marik yelled, causing Ryou and Bakura to jump slightly.

"Really? Cause I think you would, fluffy is definitely up for it," this earned him a pillow in the face from both Marik and Bakura.

"Stop throwing pillows at me!"

"Stop being a dickhead then!" Bakura growled back.

Sensing the change in attitude, Ryou tried to lighten things up.

"Urm guys? The game?" he said sweetly.

"Oh yeah…well it's your go Ryou," Melvin said, turning his attention to the white haired boy next to him.

* * *

The rest of the evening went the same, but no one was stupid enough to ask for 'truth' whilst Melvin was there.

Once they had decided they should probably go to sleep, Ryou dragged his brother into the kitchen to ask him something that had been bothering him all day.

"What's up Ry'?" Bakura asked, concerned his brother would need to ask him something in private, that usually meant something bad.

"Well 'Kura, I want you to answer me something, and I want you to be completely honest okay?"

"Okay…" Bakura said slowly.

"Do you have a crush on Marik?"

If Bakura had been drinking, he would have spat it out, looking at his brother in complete shock as he answered.

"No! I do not have a bloody crush on bloody Marik! What the bloody hell gave you that bloody idea!" Bakura said panicking, what the hell had gotten into everyone today?!

"Okay 'Kura, if you say so, I'll believe you!" Ryou replied sweetly.

"G-Good!" and with that Bakura left.

As soon as he thought his brother was out of hearing rang, Ryou burst into a fit of giggles. Bakura was always bad at hiding his emotions, Ryou could always see right through them.

Yep, things were going to get a lot more interesting from now on.

* * *

**A/N: Heeeey I just met youuu, and this isss crazzzy buttt I'm Espa Robaaa, would you like thiss babyy? XD**

**I hope Melvin's dance looked as good to you as it did to me...*drools at the thought of Melvin dancing*...**

**Anyway, please tell me what you thought in a review! Did you love it? Hate it? Your feedback is always valued! **


	8. There's No Turning Back Now

**A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to say thank you all so much for the reviews for the last chapter! **

**Also, updates may not be as quick over the next few weeks, I've got a shit load of exams and I really need to study, which unfortunately means I won't have time to write this fic *sobs***

* * *

Ryou rubbed the sleep from his eyes, as he sat up, stretching the muscles that hadn't been used during his slumber.

The couch he had been asleep on hadn't been great, and his back hurt slightly from the awkward position he had been lying in. Sitting up, he rubbed the sore spot, when something caught his eye; the television.

It had been on all night; he must have fallen asleep watching it when Marik and Melvin went to bed upstairs. The news was now on, but that wasn't what caught his attention, it was the time.

8:55am.

Lessons started at 9:00am.

Oh crap.

Jumping off the couch with amazing speed, Ryou ran over to where his brother was still asleep.

"Bakura! Wake up! We're really late for school!" Ryou yelled, shaking his brother's shoulders.

When Bakura only grunted in reply, Ryou decided drastic times called for drastic measures.

Heading into the kitchen, he filled a basin full of ice cold water as quickly as possible, he really didn't have time for this, they were late enough already!

Walking back into the living room as quickly as he could, he stood in front of Bakura, basin held securely between both his hands.

"Bakura, I mean it, get up now, or I'll make you," he said with a firm voice.

Bakura merely chuckled, thinking it was an empty threat.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," and with that, Ryou threw the water all over the white haired boy lying on the couch. The reaction was immediate.

Bakura shot up, eyes wide as he sat in shock staring at Ryou. Nothing happened for about 5 seconds, until a drop of water hanging on the edge of Bakura's bangs, fell onto the teen's nose.

"RYOU! WHAT THE HELL!" Bakura yelled as Ryou slowly made his way to the stairs.

"I did say I would make you get up, remember? Now hurry up! I'm going to get the others." Ryou practically ran up the stairs, leaving a very wet and irritated Bakura behind.

* * *

"Oh shit! I left mine and Bakura's English presentation at home! We have English today!" Marik shouted as the four boys were about to leave, they had already missed a good chunk of first period, and would only make it to school in time for the start of second. "I didn't know we were staying over! I never thought of that last night!"

"What period do you have English?" Ryou said moving towards the car.

"Second, and I really don't want an F. Melvin? Could we go home to get it?" Marik asked his brother sweetly.

"Fine, but I'm driving to school straight away, you and Bakura can take your motorcycle to school," Melvin smirked at Bakura.

"Wait a second, what do you mean by 'you and Bakura can take your motorcycle'? Why can't I go with you and Ryou?" Bakura asked, looking over at Melvin with a scowl on his face.

"It makes sense for you to go together, you're in the same lesson after all."

"No it doesn't!" Marik cut in, "You just want to spend time with Ryou!" he said in an accusing voice.

Melvin gave his brother a glare, but anything he was about to say was cut off by Ryou.

"Look, does it really matter? We're late enough as it is, and I don't particularly care who goes with who, can we just get going?" he pleaded.

"Fine, I'll go to bloody school with Marik!" Bakura said in a clearly irritated voice.

They were finally about to leave again, when Bakura saw a white envelope on the table. "Don't forget the trip money Ry'!"

"Oh my gosh! I almost forgot! Thanks Bakura!" Ryou said, placing the envelope holding their money securely into his bag.

* * *

Once they arrived at the Ishtar's house, Melvin practically kicked Marik and Bakura out of the car, before driving away.

It was quite a small house, no more than two bedrooms, with a small, un-kept front garden.

"Wait here, I'll be back in a minute," Marik said, hurrying into the house and closing the door behind him, before Bakura could ask why he couldn't go inside.

Sighing, he decided to lean against the wall and wait for the Egyptian to return.

There was a lot of banging and cursing from inside, before Marik finally came outside, zipping up his school bag.

"You took a while," Bakura said as he followed Marik to the garage.

"I...urm…couldn't find it," he replied sheepishly, his back turned to Bakura as he spoke. Finding the tanned boys behaviour odder than usual, Bakura grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

When Bakura got a look at his face, he had to resist the urge to face-palm.

"Bloody hell Marik, the reason you took so long, was because you were applying your eye-liner?" he said in what could only be described as an amused tone.

"I feel weird without it okay! Now come on!" Marik said, opening the garage door to reveal a cherry red motorbike. Bakura's eyes widened with slight panic, but he masked it quickly enough.

Marik picked up a helmet and chucked it over to Bakura.

"Let me guess, you're not wearing it because you don't want to mess up your hair?" he joked, catching the helmet.

"Ha-ha-ha very funny!" Marik said sarcastically, "Actually, I thought you might like the helmet, seeing as you're probably inexperienced with motorbikes," he said smugly.

Even though it was true, Bakura was annoyed with the accusation. "And what makes you think I'm 'inexperienced with motorbikes'?"

"Nothing really, apart from the look of terror on your face when you saw it," Marik said, his smirk never leaving his face.

Bakura scowled, but ignored Marik's comment. "Are we going to school or what?"

Marik laughed at Bakura's expense, but got on the bike nonetheless. Bakura got on afterwards, and couldn't help but be embarrassed by their position. He had his crotch pushed up against Marik's butt, his arms wrapped around the Egyptians waist so he wouldn't fall off.

If most people were in this situation, they would have blushed and there was just one thing - Florence Bakura was not like most people. He had already let his guard slip before in the presence on the Ishtar's, he wouldn't make that mistake again! Nope, not in a million years would he make himself look weak! Especially not in front of someone like Marik.

Said boy started up his motorcycle, and they sped down the road, speed limit forgotten. He swerved in and out of traffic earning a lot of beeping and swearing from both drivers and pedestrians. When Marik took his hand off the handle to flip one particularly foul mouthed man off, Bakura sub-consciously tightened his hold.

"WILL YOU KEEP BOTH HANDS ON THE BIKE?" he screamed down Marik's ear, gaining a small laugh as the Egyptian put his hand back on the handle.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared."

"I'm not scared!" Bakura growled back, hoping to sound somewhat intimidating, "I just don't want to die because of your stupidity!"

All he got in return was a laugh, as they continued exceptionally fast towards their school.

* * *

"Come on Melvin! We might just make it in time for chemistry!" Ryou said, urgently trying to hurry the tall teen down the halls. Melvin didn't see the need to rush, even though the bell had just rung. They would have been earlier, but the car almost ran out of gas half way, and they had to take an alternate route to fill it up again.

"Calm down creampuff, the bell's only just gone," he said, calmly strolling down the already deserted halls.

"You know what Sir's like! I don't want a detention!" Ryou stressed grabbing Melvin's hand and forcing him to run down the corridor.

Melvin rolled his eyes at the smaller boys panic, but allowed himself to be dragged down the corridor.

When they arrived to the lesson, Ryou opened the door rather sheepishly. The room was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. The teacher didn't bother facing them as he spoke.

"Why are you late to my lesson?"

"We…erm…we…sir…" Ryou stuttered, he knew what he wanted to say, but couldn't get the words to leave his mouth. Seeing this, Melvin took over.

"We over slept this morning Sir."

"And why did you over sleep?" the teacher asked, finally turning around to face the two teens.

"Because we had a late night," this caused a few people to giggle, as the teacher looked down at their still intertwined hands.

"I see," he said, obviously trying to hide a smirk, as it would be highly unprofessional.

Ryou glanced down to see what the teacher was looking at. Seeing he was still holding hands with Melvin, he quickly retrieved his hand, blushing a deep crimson as he took a step to the side to put some distance between them.

"You both have detentions, see me after the lesson for the details, sit." Ryou and Melvin obeyed, quickly walking down to their bench so the teacher could continue.

Once they had been given the practical, Ryou went over to the equipment desk.

After collecting everything they needed, Ryou was about to return to Melvin, when he was blocked by a tall, muscular boy with black hair, and eyebrows so big, they could give a small child nightmares.

"…Excuse me…" He said quietly, as he tried pushing past the teen. His efforts were to no avail, as the boy stood his ground.

Ryou started to panic; he hadn't been bullied in a while thanks to his brother. Were the students growing a backbone? Had they decided to target Ryou no matter what Bakura might do to them? It seemed so, as Ryou stared into the hateful eyes of the taller boy.

He had no idea what to do, he was far too weak to push past the enormous teen, but who knows what would happen if he just stood there! Then again, how much damage could be done in a science lab? Especially with the teacher watching? Even so, was it worth taking the risk? The boy looked livid, Ryou had no idea why. He'd never done anything to him as far as he knew.

Ryou was pulled from his thoughts as the boy grabbed onto his arm, pulling him closer. His eyes widened in panic as his personal space was taken over. Couldn't anyone see this? Weren't they bothered? Obviously not…

"You," the boy spat, literally, into his ear, "You filthy little faggot, you don't deserve to walk in these halls with the rest of us _normal_ people," he put extra emphasis on the word 'normal'. "I don't care what your brother might do, I'm not afraid anymore." The boys grip tightened, his fingers digging into Ryou's arm in a bruising hold. He couldn't help but let out a whimper. "You disgust me."

"What's going on here?" Came the stern voice of the teacher.

The other boy pulled away from Ryou, giving the teacher a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Nothing sir, I was just telling Ryou something important."

"Okay Ushio, now both of you, back to your desks," the teacher replied in a bored voice.

Ryou couldn't believe this! Did this teacher hate him? Or did he just not notice the poor, defenceless boy being bullied? Either way, Ryou was absolutely terrified, and his face obviously showed it as he made his way back over to Melvin.

"Ryou, what's wrong?" The taller boy asked - concern evident on his features.

"N-Nothing Melvin…let's just do the experiment," Ryou said in a voice that lacked his usual happy, bubbly ring. The sound coming from Ryou was rather disturbing, even to Melvin.

"It doesn't sound like nothing, was it that Ushio creep? If it was, I can go and sort him out!" Ryou smiled inwardly at Melvin's concern, but felt his stomach drop as Ushio's words replayed over in his head. '_Filthy little faggot. I'm not afraid. You disgust me. Us 'normal' people." _He tried to shake the words from his mind, but he couldn't. He'd never been so scared before, he couldn't defend himself even if he tried!

"Ryou? Ryou! Please say something," Came Melvin's obviously distressed voice.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Melvin," he plastered a fake smile on his face, hoping to through the other boy off. "I'm fine, let's just do this practical!" He tried to make his voice sound enthusiastic, but it didn't work. He felt empty, confused, and above all, hurt. He just wanted to burst into tears, he knew it was pathetic, nothing happened apart from a few words, but those words were painful. He shouldn't care what people thought of him, but he did. Him and Melvin weren't even dating, it was a misunderstanding, and that was the reaction he had gotten. The bullies he had managed to avoid for years had come back, and it seemed nothing would stop them. How would they react if he and Melvin were actually dating? He shuddered at the thought.

But no matter how he felt, he had to mask it; he couldn't let Melvin know how he was hurting. He didn't need to bother him with his stupid worries.

Melvin, it seemed, could see right past his mask. "I don't believe you, but I won't push you. Just…If anyone hurts you, tell me okay?" he said in an extremely soft voice, it was almost creepy hearing the tone on the Egyptians normal deep voice.

"I will…I promise."

"Good, now, let's do this practical! I promise not to set you on fire this time." Ryou couldn't help but laugh a little at that. Somehow, Melvin made him forget about all his problems.

* * *

"And that is why shutter shades are the most pointless invention of the twenty-first century!" Marik finished, just as the bell signalled the end of the lesson.

"Very good boys, you will all receive your grades next lesson, class dismissed," the teacher said lazily, obviously glad such a tedious lesson was over.

Marik and Bakura made their way out of the room, and the white haired boy couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"You, you took over the entire presentation, I didn't say anything, you're such an attention seeker!" he said, continuing to snicker.

"I am not an attention seeker!" Marik defended himself, looking outraged by the accusation.

"Yes you are! You even dress like one!"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Look at your outfit!" Bakura pointed towards Marik's choice of clothes: a very short, purple hoodie with low-riding leather pants. "You dress like a slut!"

"I DO NOT DRESS LIKE A SLUT!" Marik yelled, earning a few odd looks from other students.

"Keep your voice down, oh wait, I forgot, you like the attention, slut."

"Oh my Ra Bakura! You are such an asshole!" Marik threw his arms in the air as If to emphasis his point.

"Yep. And you love it," Bakura replied with a wink, as he opened the door to their History class. Marik didn't both to reply, and instead took his usual seat next to Melvin, as Bakura did with Ryou

It wasn't long before the teacher came in.

"Okay class, only a few weeks to go before you all need to hand in your money and permission slips. If any of you have got them, please come to the front."

Ryou stood up with the newly acquired money. Their father had already sent the other half to the school, as he had informed them over the phone, so once this was handed in, they had nothing to worry about. Marik and Melvin had already handed in their money.

Once Ryou placed the envelope in the plastic wallet, his teacher crossed his and Bakura's names off of the list.

He returned to his seat with the biggest smile he had had all day. This was it; they were definitely going to England! Absolutely nothing could spoil his mood now.

* * *

**A/N: Gaaah! I hate Ushio! And those damn eyebrows! The first time I saw him, I was so freaked out! My friend actually had nightmares! Hence why I'm used him as the asshole bully for this fic ^.^**

**As always, I would love to hear what you think about this chapter, so please review :)**


	9. Travelling

**A/N: My school work is calming down now, so hopefully no more delays! **

**And it's the chapter you've all been waiting for! They FINALLY go to England! Woop!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed~!**

* * *

Ryou glanced at the clock for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the past five minutes. It was 3:00am in the morning, and he had half an hour to kill before the Ishtar's came to pick him and his brother up. Today they were finally going to England, and Ryou was visibly bouncing from excitement. Bakura on the other hand, was not.

"Will you calm down? You're giving me a headache!"

"Sorry 'Kura! I just can't wait!" Ryou replied with a sympathetic smile. He didn't mean to wake his brother up so early; he just couldn't get to sleep and decided to finish packing. All the noise woke up Bakura, and now he was grumpier than Ryou had ever seen him before.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Bakura mumbled before flopping back down on the couch. Once he was awake, he couldn't get back to sleep again, no matter how hard he tried.

"What time did Marik and Melvin say they would be here?" Bakura said - his speech slightly mumbled as his face was squished in one of the cushions.

"3:30. Maybe I should ring them and ask them to come sooner?" Ryou suggested, he was getting sick of doing nothing. Bakura must of felt the same way, giving a grunt in reply.

Ryou flipped open his mobile, just as he received a text from Marik:

**_Ryou._**

**_Gonna be earlier than expected, probably be there in 10 minutes._**

**_Marik._**

'_Well that's lucky' _Ryou thought as he sent Marik a quick reply of 'okay' and looked over to where his brother had collapsed on the couch.

"They'll be here in 10 minutes, start getting ready."

* * *

Sure enough, ten minute later Marik knocked on the door, and before they knew it they were at school with the rest of their class.

Everyone was talking enthusiastically to each other. The atmosphere was buzzing at the thought of no school work for the next week.

"Everybody, I understand you're excited, but please listen!" the teacher spoke, desperately trying to calm down her class. "Before we can let you on the coach, you need to partner up with a buddy! When you have chosen your partner, please come to the front and tell us."

"I PICK CREAMPUFF!" Melvin yelled, grabbing Ryou's wrist and dragging him over to the teachers.

"I guess that leaves me and you," Marik said awkwardly. Bakura merely nodded in reply, before walking in the same direction as their siblings, and getting on the bus.

Marik and Bakura sat behind Melvin and Ryou on the coach as they waited for the other students to pair up.

"Wow, I can't believe it! We're actually going to England!" Ryou said, trying to control the excitement in his voice.

"Where exactly are we going again?" Marik asked.

"It's a place called Whitby in Yorkshire; it's a lovely seaside town! Me and 'Kura used to go there all the time when we lived in England. They have the best Fish'n'Chip shops! I hope they allow us some free time, that way we can buy some chips and walk along the beach! It'll be so much fun! And we can…" Ryou trailed off as he saw the next person coming onto the bus: Ushio.

Ever since that day in science, Ryou had managed to successfully keep out of the other boy's way. This only managed to piss Ushio off more, but that didn't matter. If he got beaten up, his brother would notice and take action. Ushio had made it quite clear that he wasn't scared of Bakura anymore, and Ryou didn't want to risk his brother getting hurt as well.

Just when he thought he wouldn't have to deal with any of that stress for a week, the source of it all strolls onto the bus. He wasn't even in Ryou's history class, what was going on?

"Ryou? Hello? Earth to Ryou!" Bakura said, waving a hand in front of his brother's face to try and snap him back into reality.

"Are you okay? You spaced out on us for a minute?" Marik said in a concerned tone, following the white haired boys gaze in the direction of Ushio.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine! Just thinking about England is all…" Ryou hated lying to his friends, but it was the only way they wouldn't get hurt. "Does anyone know why Ushio is here? He isn't in our class." It couldn't hurt to ask why Ushio was here, could it?

"Apparently there were some spaces left over, so Miss gave asked if anyone in her form wanted to come, obviously Ushio took the offer," Marik replied matter-of-factly, as if the situation wasn't a problem.

"Oh…I see…"

"Is something wrong creampuff?" Melvin asked, speaking up for the first time since they sat on the coach,

"No, everything is fine Melvin," Ryou smiled, but Bakura wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure Ryou? 'Cause if he's bothering you again…" He replied with clear venom in his voice, glaring at Ushio.

Maybe asking was a bad idea.

"No! Bakura its fine! Honestly!" Ryou said slightly too hastily, but luckily no one picked up on his panic as Melvin spoke.

"What do you mean by 'again'?"

"When we first started school, Ushio and his gang of knuckle heads used to bully Ryou. He didn't tell anyone because Ushio said if he did, he would beat him up even worse than he was already doing, which was quite bad I might add. Anyway, I eventually figured out what was going on and sorted it out. Ushio hasn't touched him since," Bakura finished his tale with a smug look on his face.

"He was talking to Ryou the other day…" Melvin said giving Ryou a questioning look.

"I told you it was nothing Melvin! He just wanted to ask about the practical!"

"Ryou…" Bakura said with disbelief evident in his eyes.

"Ohh! Look! The bus is moving!" Ryou said quickly changing the subject, as the coach started to pull away from the school.

* * *

"Okay everybody, off the coach!" The teacher called, startling Ryou. He hadn't realised he had fallen asleep on the long coach journey, and now they were already at the airport! "Remember to stick with your buddy to ensure safety!"

"Come on Melvin, let's go," Ryou said turning to face the Egyptian, only to find him fast asleep.

"Urm…Melvin?" he gave the tanned boy a poke in the side, but all that resulted in was a grunt.

"Melvin! Come on Melvin! Wake up!" Ryou said, frantically shaking the other boy as more and more people started to leave the coach.

Nothing happened for a few seconds, but before Ryou knew it, the taller male had stretched his arms out and around the white haired teen, forcing Ryou to face plant his chest as he remained fast asleep.

Feeling all the blood rush up to his face, Ryou tried his hardest to wake the other up, but it was to no avail as all that came out were muffled squeaks.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but it couldn't have been too long before he heard snickering that he recognised as Marik.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Bakura said, pulling his brother from Melvin's strong grasp.

"I-it's not what it looks like! I-I was j-just trying to wake him up!" Ryou said, his face going even redder as Melvin somehow managed to remain asleep through the whole embarrassing experience.

"You tried to wake him up…by lying on him?" Bakura asked sceptically.

"N-no! Agh! Just forget it!" Ryou turned his gaze to the floor, hoping that by doing so his face would regain its normal colour.

"Marik, would you wake your bloody brother up! We need to get off the coach."

"Alright! Alright!" Marik said, walking over to his brother. He leant down so his mouth was level with Melvin's ear before whispering, "Hey Melvin, there's fresh creampuffs waiting downstairs with your name on them!"

Almost immediately Melvin's eyes shot open and he jumped up from his seat.

"CREAMPUFFS?! WHERE!" he started looking around frantically, causing the three other boys to burst into laughter.

"There aren't any! Come on! We need to leave the coach," Marik said pulling his more than disappointed brother along with him.

"Doesn't Melvin call you a creampuff?" Bakura said once the Ishtar's were out of ear shot.

"Oh…y-yeah he does…" Ryou replied blushing slightly at the nickname. All he got in return was a frown from his brother as they walked into the airport.

* * *

After two and a half hours of going through customs and security, they were finally on the plane! It was actually happening; Ryou was going to England for the first time in 6 years. It had really started to sink in now, there was no turning back. Ryou let a soft smile play on his mouth at the thought. They were finally going home. It may not be for a very long time, but they were going nonetheless.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a very loud snoring noise coming from his left.

"Good grief! He's asleep again! The plane hasn't even left yet!" Ryou exclaimed to Marik, who was sat behind him and Melvin.

"He's been sleeping a lot more than usual lately…"

"Huh, lazy bastard," Bakura mumbled under his breath, earning a head slap from Marik.

"Don't insult my brother Bakura!"

"I was just telling the truth…"

"You can't really say anything 'Kura, if it weren't for me you would never get out of bed," Ryou added quietly as his brother glared at him.

Just then the seat belt icon lit up, signalling it was time for them to belt up before the plane left.

Ryou did up his own belt, before realising that Melvin had fallen asleep before he had done his own up.

Without thinking, Ryou leant over Melvin, feeling down the side of his seat for the belt buckle, but not having much luck.

What he didn't notice was the now wide awake Egyptian smirking at him.

"Any particular reason why you're feeling me up, creampuff?"

At the sound of Melvin's voice, Ryou froze, his eyes wide as he realised what he had been grabbing at had not been the seat belt, but Melvin's leg.

"I-I w-wasn't…honestly! I-I was trying to do your belt up because you were asleep!" he stuttered, his face going tomato red for the second time that day.

"Ahh I see, well," Ryou gasped as he felt Melvin's hand wrap around his own, "Let me help you with that." Melvin then proceeded to guide Ryou's hand to the belt, and clip it into the hole. "See," he purred down the smaller boy's ear, "Much easier."

Ryou shivered as he felt Melvin's hot breath, it took him a few seconds to realise Melvin was no longer holding his hand. Blushing an even deeper crimson, he straightened up and sunk down into his own seat.

He figured his face wouldn't return to a normal colour for a long time.

* * *

After an excruciatingly long flight and another tedious coach ride, they finally reached their destination.

Stepping out of the coach, Ryou was hit by the familiar smell of the salty sea, and was instantly flooded with a sense of nostalgia.

He looked up at the Bed and Breakfast he had seen many times before, and only one thought entered his mind.

_It's great to be home._

* * *

**A/N: Yay! They're in England! I've been to Whitby quite a few times and I love it so much I just had to include it in this fic!**

**As always, please review! I love each and every review I get, it gives me inspiration to write.**


	10. Crazy, Crazy Golf

**A/N: Hey there everyone! I can't believe this story has reached past 50 reviews! I really wasn't expecting that! Infact, you could say it was **_**unexpected**_**(hehe see what I did there?) I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed/followed/favourited so far! **

**Hope you enjoy! **

* * *

"Oi Ryou! Stop spacing out and come inside," Bakura said, snapping his brother from his daydream. "It's our time to get a room."

"Huh? Oh right…" Ryou said, shaking his head to get out of his dazed state as he walked up the large, concrete steps to the Bed and Breakfast they would be staying in. The impressive oak door was open, revealing a small cosy hallway. The walls were cream with a flowery pattern covering them, the floors were covered in a soft brown carpet. There were various trinkets and knick-knacks placed on the shelves along the walls – just as Ryou remembered.

It was really quite lucky that the school had chosen a one of the places Ryou and Bakura had stayed in before. There were a lot of Bed and Breakfasts in Whitby to accommodate for the vast amount of holiday goers looking for a place to stay. The white haired twins had stayed in a good few, but Ryou certainly never thought he would stay here again. This was one of his favourites, everything about it seemed to scream comfort! The walls, the floors, the people, even the furniture! Ryou felt a strong sense of fondness flood him as he took in the thick sense of warmth that coated the air.

Standing next to their teacher looking at a pile of papers, was a very short, plump women. After realising there were indeed four more students she needed to attend to, she lifted her head and gave out a hearty chuckle.

"Ah, I'm sorry boys! I didn't realise there were still students to accommodate!" she gave a warm smile. She had light blonde hair tied in a rather scruffy bun, warm chocolate eyes, and an assortment of freckles on her face. Unfortunately, Ryou didn't recognise the lady. Had the ownership changed since he was last here? "My names Pamela, my husband John and I own this place, we took over last year." she said, as if she had heard what Ryou had just thought. "I'm afraid the only rooms we have left are on the top floor. I take it we have two sets of twins here?" She asked the teacher, who gave a nod in reply. "Excellent! Follow me," Just as quickly as this was said, she had disappeared up the stairs, along with their teacher.

"Of course our room HAS to be on the bloody top floor! It couldn't have been on the bottom could it?" Bakura said sarcastically.

"Oh, stop complaining! Let's go!" Ryou said, bouncing up the stairs just as quickly as Pamela.

"We've been here for less than 10 minutes and he's already unbearably excited," Bakura said, not out of his grumpy mood from earlier on.

"Oh don't be so moody Bakura! Let's go and check out the room!" Marik said almost as enthusiastically as Ryou. "Come on you two!" he said, before following the smaller white haired boy up the stairs.

Bakura gave a sigh, not understanding why everyone was so excited to be in England, but went upstairs nonetheless, Melvin following behind him.

* * *

After walking up five of what seemed the longest stair cases in the world, they finally reached the correct room.

"Aha! Here we go!" Pamela said, unlocking the first door in the tiny corridor. She opened the door to reveal a large room, covered in the same wallpaper that was downstairs, but instead of white it was a pale blue colour. In the far left side of the room was a small oak coffee table and a very old looking TV with a collection of videos. There was a large brown couch placed in front of the TV that looked as if it had seen better days, but didn't look uncomfortable. On the other side of the room there were two single beds with blue pillow cases and bed spreads, a small wardrobe to put their belongings in, and a door that must of lead into the bathroom.

"Two of you can stay in here; the others can stay next door. The rooms are exactly the same decoration wise," Pamela said, holding out the key for the other room.

"Thank you Pamela." Their teacher said, taking the key she was being offered and handing it to Marik. "Now boys', seeing as today has been a long one, we won't be doing any activities, feel free to explore the town today. Pamela has very kindly agreed to cook dinner for us whilst we're here, so please return before 6 if you do venture outside. The schedule for the rest of the week will be up tomorrow morning at breakfast."

"Okay, thank you miss," Ryou said politely. Their teacher nodded, before heading back down stairs.

"I don't know about you guys, but I want to check out the town!" Ryou said looking eagerly at the others.

"Me too! Just give me a minute to freshen up," Marik replied, beaming back at Ryou with the same amount of eagerness.

"You mean to apply your make-up, right?" Bakura said with a smirk, earning a glare from Marik.

"I do not wear make up!" Marik said with a huff, crossing his arms.

"Yes you do! You can see your eyeliner quite clearly! And," Bakura paused slightly to lean in closer to the Egyptian, their faces nearly touching. Bakura reached out a hand and wiped the tanned cheek as gently as he could, keeping eye contact with the stunning lavender orbs the whole time. Marik's breath caught at their close proximity. He tried, and failed to stop the light blush spreading across his face from such a simple action. "Ahh I knew it!" Bakura said, looking down at his fingers which now had a slight orange tinge, "You wear foundation!"

"I-I..Shut up!" Marik yelled at the now roaring with laughter Melvin.

"Oh jheez bro! I knew you were gay, but I didn't know you were _that_ type of gay!" Melvin said in between snorts of laughter.

"I AM NOT GAY!" Marik screamed, earning stunned looks from the others.

"Wait…I thought you said you didn't care if anyone thought you were gay?" Bakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"…I don't…" Marik replied sheepishly.

"Hold on a second, whenever someone called you a fruit back in Egypt, you'd go crazy!" Melvin said sceptically, "What's with the sudden change of heart?"

"I-I…erm..I…Oh shut up! Just shut up!" Marik said, getting more and more pissed by the second.

"Someone's PMSing like a bitch…" Bakura said causing Melvin to burst into a fit of laughter once again. Marik however, saw red.

"YOU! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" he said, repeatedly poking Bakura in the chest as he spoke, "STOP MAKING ME SOUND LIKE A GIRL! I AM NOT A GIRL! I AM A VERY MANLY MAN I SHALL HAVE YOU KNOW!"

Bakura grabbed the hand that was abusing his torso and held it in place as he spoke, "Calm down Marik, you're going to give yourself a heart attack."

Marik tore his hand away from Bakura's grasp, "Fuck you Bakura!"

"You'd like to, wouldn't you?" the white haired male replied with a wink, to which Marik's face heated up in a mixture of embarrassment and rage.

"Ra you're infuriating!" he said whilst trying to cover his face with his golden locks, "Ryou, I'll be out in ten minutes," he told the smaller white haired boy, who had remained quiet through the whole conversation.

"Oh…okay, see you in a minute," he replied sweetly as Marik left. "Will he be alright?" he said once the Egyptian was out of ear shot.

"Yeah, don't worry about him," Melvin said with a creepy smile on his face, "What are we going to do when we leave, creampuff?"

"Oh… I hadn't really thought about it. I guess we could go and check out the crazy golf course! I've always loved playing that," Ryou said with a distant, yet warm look in his eyes.

"Oh God! Not golf! I hate that!" said Bakura. This seemed to bring Ryou back to the present, as a teasing smile graced his lips.

"Only because you suck at it!"

"I do not suck at it!" Bakura replied completely offended by his brother's remark. His golfing skills were perfectly fine, thank you very much!

"Want to bet?" Ryou asked cunningly, he would get to play golf even if he had to trick Bakura into it. If there was one thing his brother hated, it was losing.

"You're on! I win, you have to buy lunch for the rest of the week, and vice versa."

"Deal!" Ryou said, trying to keep the smugness out of his voice.

"Ready to go guys?" Marik said coming out of his room. He had calmed down, and was eager to see more of England.

"Yeah, let's go!" Ryou replied as the four of them made their way down the stairs.

* * *

"It's freezing out here! I thought it was autumn! Why's it so cold?" Marik said, hugging his shirt closer to his body. It was around about 1:00pm and the sun had decided to leave for the day, making the sky a horrible grey colour.

"Welcome to England," Bakura snorted at the Egyptians complaining.

"How long until we reach the course?" Melvin asked as they walked down the long stretch of road that seemed to go on forever.

"Not long, if I remember correctly, it's just around this corn-ahh! Here we are!" Ryou said, a grin spreading onto his face as they looked up at the bright neon sign that read 'CRAIG'S CRAZY GOLF!' in flashing orange letters. The sign contrasted horribly with the sky, and hurt your eyes if you looked for too long at it.

"This looks…interesting…" Marik said with an unconvincing look on his face. It was clear he didn't find it interesting at all.

"Don't worry Marik! It's tons of fun!" Marik gave him an unsure look, causing Ryou to giggle. "Honestly! Come on!"

The four of them walked over to the small desk where a small lady, who couldn't of been over eighteen was filing her nails and chewing a piece of gum. She wasn't paying much attention to what was going on, and Ryou had to clear his throat many times before she looked at them.

"Hello, could we have four please?" he said with false politeness at the rude woman.

The woman, whose name tag read 'Sarah', reached under the desk and pulled out four golf clubs and balls, all in different colours. She handed them out individually, but hesitated when she gave Melvin's his. Melvin grabbed the end and pulled, but to no avail as the girl kept a vice like grip on the other end. Melvin gave the girl a confused expression, but all she did was look the Egyptian up and down, before giving him a seductive wink.

Ryou felt even more anger bubble up in his stomach for this woman. How dare she be completely ignorant, and then flirt with his man!

Wait, since when was Melvin 'his man'?

Melvin wrinkled his nose in disgust at the woman's behaviour. Pulling the club with as much force as he could muster, he managed to release it from her grasp. This didn't seem to bother Sarah as she leaned in closer and grabbed Melvin's bicep.

"Ooh, I like a man with muscle," she said, giving Melvin's arm a squeeze. Ryou was about ready throttle her, but luckily was saved the trouble as Melvin spoke.

"You disgusting whore! I don't even know you! And I don't swing that way." His arm made its way round Ryou's waist, as he pulled the shorter male closer, as if to prove his point. "And even if I did like women, I wouldn't go for a slut like you." He then started to walk off with Ryou still attached to his hip.

Ryou felt like laughing in Sarah's face, but refrained as he saw the tears welling up in her eyes. He started to feel sorry for the poor girl, but any feelings of concern left as he finally became aware of the strong arms holding him. It suddenly became very hard for him to breath, and as much as he would of loved to stay in that position, he needed to get his lungs some air before he passed out.

"Urm…Melvin?" he said quietly. Melvin looked at him before realising the current situation.

"Oh, sorry creampuff. So tell me, how do you play this game?" he said as if nothing at all had just happened.

"Ahh well, it's just like regular golf but smaller and with different obstacles blocking the holes." Ryou explained, as they walked over to the first hole which was in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Sounds simple enough, who's going first?"

"I'll go first!" Bakura said, pushing Ryou and Melvin out of the way and placing his ball in the correct place. Carefully, he hit the ball strategically. It hit one side, effectively bouncing the ball into the opposite direction. It did this for the whole shape of the bolt, before it slowly inched closer to the hole, stopping just centimetres in front. Bakura tapped the ball gently, and it fell with a small thud into the hole.

"And that is why I am going to win," Bakura said with a smug grin on his face as Ryou pencilled a number two next to Bakura's name.

"I'll go next!" Melvin said, placing his ball on the x, before whacking it with quite a force. It followed the same route as Bakura's, but instead of stopping before the hole, it went straight in.

Bakura's face visibly dropped as Melvin cheered.

"You were saying Bakura?" he asked in the same smug tone Bakura had used just moments before.

"Oh shut up, Ryou it's your go." Bakura replied crossing his arms.

Ryou ended up taking three shots to get the ball in the whole, whilst Marik who didn't really grasp the concept, took 6.

"This game is stupid anyway," Marik mumbled to himself as they made their way to the next hole.

The whole way round, the battle was close between Melvin, who kept getting hole in ones, and Bakura and Ryou who kept taking two or three shots before the ball went in. Marik had given up after hole five stating that the game was too tedious for his liking. They were on the final hole now, and all he needed was a hole in one to beat Bakura, but it seemed highly unlikely.

"I'm never going to win the bet now…" He said to himself, not realising Melvin was right behind him.

"I can help you."

Ryou jumped slightly at the voice and turned around to face the Egyptian. "How can you help?"

"I could help you swing?"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Of course! I'm winning aren't I?" Melvin flashed him a brilliant grin before pulling Ryou over to the hole.

This one was the most difficult as it had a windmill blocking the tunnel that lead to the hole. You had to perfect your timing in order to get through.

Bakura was first up, and on the first swing managed to get the ball through the tunnel. After another hit, the ball was safely in the hole, and put Bakura in quite a good position.

"Try and beat that Melvin!"

"Alright," he said as he placed his ball on the x and took a rather unenthusiastic swing. To everyone's surprise, the ball glided past the windmills blades, down the tunnel, and straight into the hole.

"You have to be cheating! There is no way you could get a hole in one on every single hole!" Bakura seethed, he really didn't like losing.

"Don't be a sore loser Bakura, I still have to go," Ryou said softly to his brother, it was a bad idea to annoy Bakura when he was like this.

As Ryou moved to up to the hole, he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his, and instantly knew who's they were.

"M-Melvin? What are you doing?" Ryou frowned as his voice came out higher than he intended it to.

"Helping," Melvin said simply, as he started to guide the smaller boy's arms to the ball. He gently pulled them back, before swinging the club to meet the ball. They both watched in anticipation as the ball edged nearer to the windmill, through the tunnel, and eventually into the ball. The first hole in one Ryou had managed to get in the entire game.

Ryou had won.

And it was all thanks to Melvin.

Without thinking, Ryou turned around and threw himself at the taller male, almost knocking him backwards with the amount of force.

"YAY! I WON! THANK YOU MELVIN!" he shouted, clinging onto Melvin like his life depended on it.

"It's okay creampuff, anything to wipe the smug look of your brother's face."

"That doesn't count! That's cheating!" Bakura yelled, outraged that he had come last.

"Sorry 'Kura but there's nothing in the rules about that says you can't help each other," Ryou said once he had let go of Melvin.

"Stupid bloody game," Bakura mumbled, earning a pat on the back from Marik.

"Oh get over it, let's go get lunch! It's on Bakura," Melvin snickered, earning a glare from the white haired teen as they left the golf course.

* * *

**A/N: Ahh, the beauty of England and all its cold glory! **

**Oh, and just in case any of you were wondering, 'Craig's Crazy Golf' doesn't exist! (I'm so creative with names, huh?)**

**See y'all next week! **


	11. Ahoy There!

**A/N: Just a quick warning, I may not be able to post next week due to the fact IT'S CHRISTMAS! XD But I shall attempt to write every spare minute I have!**

* * *

"BEEP BEEP BEEP" The alarm clock rang, startling the British twins from their slumber.

"Uh…I hate 8:00am! Why do we have to get up this bloody early? Aren't we supposed to be on holiday?" Bakura asked, slamming his fist onto the annoying device, effectively shutting it up before burying his face deeper into his pillow.

Ryou on the other hand practically leapt out of his bed. Today was their first proper day exploring Whitby, and he couldn't wait to find out the itinerary for the rest of the week.

Getting ready quicker than anyone would of thought possible, Ryou was about to leave the room when he noticed his brother hadn't moved an inch.

"Come on Bakura," Ryou said, gently shaking his brothers shoulders, "If you don't get up you'll miss breakfast! They finish serving at 9:00."

This argument didn't seem to persuade Bakura to leave the comfort and warmth of his bed. Sighing, Ryou decided to try a different technique.

"Okay 'Kura, you stay up here by yourself, I'll go downstairs and eat the bacon, sausage, eggs, hash browns, toast, beans and mushrooms by myself, see you in a bit!" he said with a sweet smile.

"Look Ryou, I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work!" Bakura said, although it was somewhat muffled by his pillow.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ryou spoke with a clueless expression on his face, feigning innocence.

"You know exactly what I mean! I'm not leaving this bed!" Bakura would have folded his arms if it were not practically impossible due to his position.

"Bye Kura!" Ryou called before leaving the room.

Bakura stayed in bed for a few minutes before sighing and getting up. "S'not like I could get back to sleep anyway." he grumbled, throwing on some clothes and heading downstairs to the breakfast room.

* * *

The breakfast room was medium sized, with honey coloured walls and laminate flooring. In the room there were several round oak tables, and in the back of the room was a door that led into the kitchen. Pamela ran into the room carrying plates stacked high with food. She placed them down in front of the awaiting students, before frantically leaving through the doors to repeat the process again. Ryou couldn't help but smile at her as he scanned the room for a place to sit.

Spotting the familiar blonde heads, he walked over before sitting down next to Melvin and opposite Marik.

"Morning," he said cheerily as he poured a glass of orange juice.

"Hey Ryou! Where's Bakura?" Marik asked, turning around to try and find the taller teen.

"Awww, is little Marik missing his 'Kura?" Melvin teased, pretending to pout at his younger brother.

"S-Shut up Melvin! I don't care where he is; I was just wondering is all!" Marik said, going slightly red in the face.

"Wondering about what?" came Bakura's voice, causing Marik to give a startled squeak.

"What's wrong with him?" Bakura asked, sliding into the seat next to the Egyptian, before stealing the juice Ryou had poured for himself.

"Nothing, he just misses hi-OW! YOU BRAT!" Melvin yelled as Marik kicked him in the shin in an attempt to shut his brother up.

Bakura just shrugged off the Egyptians odd behaviour as Ryou spoke, "I knew you couldn't resist the food!"

"Whatever, I couldn't get back to sleep anyway. Speaking of food, where is it?" Bakura asked, glancing down at his empty placemat.

"Well someone's impatient!" Pamela said, carefully balancing four plates of food on her arms, "the food's here." She placed each plate down in front of the boys, before heading back into the kitchen.

Bakura and Ryou wasted no time in tucking into their food, whilst Marik and Melvin stared at their plates, not touching anything.

"What's wrong?" Ryou asked, noticing their looks of concern.

"Oh..you see…we're vegetarians," Marik said, poking a sausage around his plate with his fork.

"Oh! Well why didn't you just say so? You give us your meat; we'll give you our toast," Ryou said with a sweet smile as he exchanged food with Melvin. "Go on 'Kura! Give Marik your food."

"Why the bloody hell should I?"

"Baaakuuuuraaaaa! Please! I'm starving!" Marik pleaded, jutting his bottom lip out as his stomach rumbled.

"No! I'm just as hungry as you, if not more!" Bakura snapped, not looking the Egyptian boy in the eye. If he did he knew his resistance would crumble.

"Baaaaakuuuraaaa!" Marik persisted on, shaking the white haired boys arms.

As soon as Bakura felt the contact on his skin, his head snapped up, and he looked into the violet orbs. He almost gave in right then, but he fought against the urge as he glanced back down at his mouth watering food.

"No." He said, picking up his slice of toast and taking a bite.

"Fine, if that's the way you want to play!" Marik said, snapping out of his helpless state as a look of determination crossed his features.

Bakura looked at him with a confused expression, toast still hanging out of his mouth. With the stealth of a criminal, Marik raised his arm, and swiped the toast clean out of Bakura's mouth.

Before Bakura could figure out what Marik had done, the tanned boy had left the table and was running up the stairs.

"Hey!" Bakura yelled as he realised what had just happened, he jumped up from his seat and chased after the Egyptian.

Ryou chuckled at the others antics, before finishing his breakfast off and going to find out what today's activity would be.

"Oh awesome! We're going on a boat trip today! A replica of the HMS Endeavour, sounds fun! We should probably go and get Marik and Bakura"

"Or we could leave them up there; they're probably fucking each other as we speak." Melvin said, picking up the piece of paper that had the day's activities on it. The boat trip was the only thing they had planned for today, as it lasted a few hours.

"Or they're murdering each other, besides; we have nothing better to do, come on!" Ryou replied, racing up the stairs to check their brothers hadn't damaged each other too badly.

* * *

"MARIK! GIVE. ME. MY. TOAST!" was all Ryou and Melvin heard as they ran up the stairs. Out of all the scenes they were expecting to see, the one in front of them was not it.

In the middle of the corridor, Marik was lying on his back on the floor with Bakura on top of him. Bakura was frantically trying to grab the piece of toast Marik held in his hand, whilst pinning him down by straddling him. Marik had one hand on Bakura's head, trying to push him further away from the toast, whilst he struggled to get the other boy off him.

"…Urm, guys?" Ryou said cautiously. Both Marik and Bakura snapped their heads around and said "what" at the same time.

"You do realise you're fighting over a slice of bread, right?"

Bakura looked back down at Marik, as they both seemed to realise what position they were in. Marik blushed slightly as Bakura got up. How did they even end up in that position? Everything was such a blur to him. One minute they were arguing, and the next they were on the floor. Marik blushed an even deeper crimson as he remembered what it felt like having Bakura's body pressed up against his. He was pulled out of his thoughts as Bakura cleared his throat.

"You can…erm…have the toast." he said, not making eye contact with the Egyptian.

"Thanks…" Marik mumbled, taking a bite out of the now stone cold slice.

An awkward silence filled the air that Ryou decided to fill.

"We're going on a boat trip today…that should be fun!"

"Well…we should probably get going then." Marik said, taking the last bite out of the toast.

* * *

"TAKE A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME! COME ONE, COME ALL, RIDE THE HMS ENDEAVOUR! FIND OUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE CAPTAIN COOK!" shouted a small man standing on a box near the docks, just in front of the edge. He was dressed in a pirate costume and was passing posters out to people walking past. His voice was beginning to irritate the students, especially Melvin.

"Can't he shut up for one fucking minute?" He growled, glaring pointedly at the annoying little man.

"Don't worry Melvin! We'll be on the boat soon," Ryou reassured him, but Melvin didn't look convinced.

"YOUNG BOY, OVER THERE!" the man cried, pointing at Melvin.

"Me?"

"YES, THE ARTICHOKE HEAD!" he laughed, "ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THE BOAT TRIP?" he said with a grin on his face, oblivious to Melvin's growing temper.

"I'm going to kill him!" Melvin seethed as Bakura laughed. The Egyptian started walking towards the man on the box, but was stopped as Ryou grabbed his arm, pulling him back into the line.

"Melvin! Calm down!"

"Yeah _artichoke head_, calm down!" Bakura said through his laughter, only managing to infuriate Melvin more.

Thankfully, the line had started moving. Ryou gave a sigh of relief as they were about to board the boat, but for some reason the line stopped moving. And they were right next to the man on the box. Brilliant.

"AHH! ARTICHOKE HEAD!" the man shouted louder than he needed to, "I DIDN'T HEAR YOUR ANSWER BEFORE, ARE YOU EXCITED FOR THE BOAT TRIP?"

Thankfully, Melvin tried to ignore the man, but it was obvious he was even more annoyed by the way he had tightened his hands into fists.

"HELLO? IS HE DEAF?" the man said, waving a hand in front of Melvin's face. Did he have a death wish or something?

Finally, Melvin lost it. He turned to glare daggers at the man, who continued to beam up at him.

"Ahh, so you're not deaf? Will you answer my question now? Are you looking forward to the boat trip?"

Ryou watched in horror as the corners of Melvin's mouth lifted into a smile, this can't be good.

"No," he said surprisingly calmly, "But there is one thing I'm looking forward to."

Satisfied that he had managed to get an answer, the man replied in the same calm manner, "And what would that be?"

"This," Melvin said, and before anyone could stop him, he had pushed the man swiftly in the chest. The man stumbled backwards, swaying dangerously over the edge of the water, before falling in with a 'SPLASH'.

Melvin smirked as he looked down at his work.

"Oh my…" Ryou said as he looked over the edge at the now spluttering and coughing man, "Shouldn't we get help for him?"

"No, he'll be alright," Melvin said, looking up at the now moving line, "Come on creampuff! Let's get on!" he then proceeded to grab Ryou's arm and drag him onto the boat, Marik and Bakura following behind.

* * *

"Ahoy mateys!" Another man dressed as a pirate said, "Welcome to the HMS Endeavour! This is a replica of the boat Captain Cook sailed! Sit back and relax as we take you on a journey back in time." As the man finished talking, a sea shanty called 'Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum' came on, and they started to sail away.

After about 5 minutes of sitting on the boat doing nothing, everyone started to become bored or the sea shanties that were playing on repeat, and began to wonder around the boat.

"This is so dull!" Marik exclaimed, sitting back down on the bench after wondering around to find out there was nothing to do.

"Yes, it is quite boring; I honestly thought it would be more interesting than this…" Ryou said, looking out towards the sea. There really was nothing interesting to see, and the 'pirates' had disappeared to god knows where. "There must be something to do!" Ryou got off his seat in search of an activity, when they hit a patch of rough water. He went flying backwards, but luckily fell onto something soft. Giving a content sigh, he snuggled down further into the seat. He didn't remember them being so comfy!

Then he saw Bakura and Marik's raised eyebrows.

Then he realised Melvin wasn't sat next to him.

Then he realised what he was sitting on wasn't the bench.

It was Melvin.

Ryou's eyes went wide as he tried to get up, but a pair of strong arms prevented him from moving.

"If you're comfy you can stay," Melvin whispered into his ear, causing Ryou to shiver and blush slightly.

"N-No it's okay…I can get up!" Ryou said, even though his body was leaning closer to Melvin's warmth.

"You sure?" he purred, tracing his fingers in circles down the white haired teens waist, "Because I really don't mind at all."

Ryou let out a shaky breath, he really didn't want to leave, but Melvin was probably just messing around with him. He didn't want to embarrass himself by giving into the temptation.

"I…I…urm…" The longer Melvin continued, the less Ryou was able to speak.

Finally, Bakura had enough. He pulled Ryou out of Melvin's lap, before turning and glaring at Melvin.

"He said he could get up!" Bakura spat venomously.

"Really? Because it didn't seem like he minded too much," Melvin replied with a smirk.

"He didn't really have much choice!" Bakura yelled back.

Sensing the tension in the air, Ryou searched desperately for something to say, when he noticed the boat turning around.

"Hey look! We're turning around!" he said in a hurry.

Marik, who had also been wary of the tension in the air, took the opportunity to speak, "Finally!" He gave a nervous laugh as the boat head back to the docks.

The tension had been somewhat defused, but the four boys sat in silence on the journey back. Ryou could only pray that tomorrow's activity was better.


	12. Problems

**A/N: HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR! I'm sorry this chapter is so late, I just haven't had any time to write. Hopefully updates should go back to once a week from now on.**

* * *

Bakura sat down at the breakfast table with annoyance. It was a good job he was the first person there, otherwise whoever was unfortunate enough to converse with him would be on the receiving end of his foul mood. He still couldn't believe he was being forced to wake up this early on holiday. It didn't help that the beds were about as comfortable as a pile of rocks. He had been tossing and turning all night, only managing to get a pathetic 5 hours of sleep, before Ryou yelled at him to get up.

Speaking of his brother, Bakura wondered what was taking him so long. Ryou had said he wanted to check out the timetable for the day before he ate, and that he would meet Bakura in the breakfast room afterwards. It wasn't like his brother to get distracted. Well, unless Melvin was involved. Bakura grimaced as he thought of the way his brother was acting like the Egyptian's little bitch. He knew from the start he was trouble, but it seemed Ryou was completely oblivious.

Bakura heard the sounds of footsteps, and looked up from where he had rested his hands on his head to see who it was. To say he was disgusted by the sight was an understatement.

Walking through the doors of the breakfast room was his brother, with none other than Melvin himself. The Egyptian leant down and whispered something in Ryou's ear, causing the white haired boy to giggle and blush. Marik was following behind them, either unaware of their siblings' flirtatious behaviour or choosing to ignore it.

The disgust Bakura felt must have shown on his face, because Marik seemed to pick up on it.

"What's wrong with you?" the Egyptian asked as he took the seat next to Bakura.

Bakura didn't reply, instead he stabbed a sausage exceptionally hard whilst staring pointedly at Ryou and Melvin – who were still whispering with each other.

That was all the explanation Marik needed. He looked over to Bakura with sympathetic, yet confused eyes. He really didn't understand the Brits problem. He didn't care what his brother did, and Bakura seemed like the type of person not to care either. However, before he could question him about it, Ryou finally turned his attention away from Melvin and spoke.

"Today we're going to the Whitby Museum!" he said with enthusiasm, as everyone else groaned.

"First, the world's worst boat trip, and now we have to spend all day in a museum? I wish I'd never bothered to come," Bakura moaned, thoroughly pissed with the way the day was sure to turn out.

"Don't say that Bakura!" Ryou gasped. "We worked hard to make sure the both of us could come here! The least you could do is act positive…"

Bakura sighed. He could tell if he didn't cooperate now, Ryou would go off on a rant, and honestly, he was not in the mood for one of those. "Sure Ryou! Wooo for museums!" He cheered with absolutely no enthusiasm, whilst faking a huge grin.

Marik choked, struggling to hold back his laughter as Ryou glared at the both of them. He was going to make sure today was better than yesterday if it were the last thing he did!

* * *

"Alright everyone! Gather around!" their teacher called from outside a large, red bricked building. It had eight white pillars spread out in twos across the front, and in the centre was a large mahogany door. Several concrete steps lead up to the entrance. "Now you are allowed to do as you please in here, go wherever you want, but I want us all back here at 4 o'clock, okay?"

A chorus of 'yes miss' was heard, before everyone charged through the doors like a stampede.

As they walked down the halls, Ryou tried his hardest to make things more interesting. Whilst they passed down the exhibits, he would exclaim how wonderful they looked, or he would read out the panels of information in an extremely excited voice. All of his efforts, however, seemed to be in vain, and if he was being honest, he was actually quite bored himself.

It was getting close to around 1 o'clock now. They had visited all the exhibits, and they were now wondering around the halls much like zombies.

"What were you saying about museums being interesting, Ryou?" Bakura mocked.

"Oh shut up! I didn't realise how boring this place would be, there has to be something to do…right?"

"We've been everywhere in here; I don't think there is anything else we can do," Marik said, glancing around as if something would magically pop out to entertain them for the remaining three hours.

"AHHA!" Melvin shouted, causing the others to jump.

"What?" they asked in unison, as a grin spread across Melvin's face. He said nothing, but instead pointed to one of the corners in the room.

Marik, Bakura and Ryou all glanced in the direction of his finger.

"A fire exit? What do you suppose we do with a fire exit?" Bakura scoffed.

"I say we leave through it and find something interesting to do!"

"We can't just leave! What if the teacher finds out?" Ryou asked, the thought of being caught scaring him.

"They won't find out as long as we're back before 4 o'clock, do you have any better ideas?"

Ryou thought for a moment, but shook his head with a sigh.

"Great! Then let's go! Unless you two have any objections?" he turned to Marik and Bakura.

"I'm fine with it, what about you?" Marik said.

Bakura mumbled something that would have been incomprehensible, if it weren't for the slight nod of his head that told everyone he was okay with the idea. He had to admit, it was a good idea, but he hated the fact that Melvin was the one to come up with it.

"Right then, we need to sneak out whilst no one is looking, so hang on." Melvin then left the room, much to everyone's confusion.

"What's he doing?" Ryou asked Marik, a look of worry crossing his features.

"No idea, but knowing Melvin, probably something stupid."

It wasn't long before they heard a loud _BANG_ coming from the room next to them. Almost immediately the room emptied, and before they knew it, Melvin was running towards them, pointing at the fire exit.

Taking the hint, all four of them sped towards the door, throwing it open before scrambling out onto the pavement.

"What the hell was all that about!" Marik yelled, panting slightly from the unexpected exercise.

"Well…I needed a distraction so that people would leave the exhibit we were in."

"We got that bit dickface!" Bakura said. "You could have told us your plan you know!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch Snow White, I thought the plan would have been obvious," Melvin said dismissively, starting to walk around the corner of the building, onto the main road.

"Don't start with those fucking ridiculous nicknames!" Bakura said through gritted teeth – Melvin was really grating on his nerves now.

"I'll call you what I want, there isn't a law against it."

"You'll be bloody sorry if you do! I can promise you that!" Bakura clenched his hands in to fists, trying – and failing – to keep his voice steady, despite all the anger he felt. Something as petty as this shouldn't have irritated him so much, but it was the fact it was coming from Melvin that made it all the more infuriating.

"'Kura, please calm down," Ryou begged, not liking the tension that always seemed to fill the air whenever his brother and Melvin spoke.

Thankfully, Bakura listened to his brother. He turned his attention away from the increasingly annoying Egyptian, onto said Egyptian;s brother, as Marik spoke.

"Are we planning on going anywhere? Because if we're not, escaping from the museum was a waste of time."

"We could go and get something to eat?" Ryou suggested, subconsciously rubbing his stomach.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Marik said, "Have anywhere in mind?"

"What about fish and chips? I saw a shop when we were on the way to the museum," Ryou answered.

"Sure, which way?"

"This way I think," Ryou said, pointing towards the left of where they were standing.

They started to walk in the direction of the chip shop. There was a slightly uncomfortable silence looming over them, but it was a lot better than the atmosphere between Melvin and Bakura. It seemed like whenever they argued, Ryou and Marik were the ones to diffuse the tension. It was almost as if they were the lighter half, trying to take away the darkness in their brothers before things became too bad.

He chuckled softly as images of him with a halo, and Bakura with devil horns appeared in his mind. Maybe they were all supposed to become friends? Their personalities balanced each other out; perhaps it was destiny that brought the Egyptians and the Brits together?

Or maybe that was a silly thought. Maybe Ryou was only hoping that they were meant to be friends, in hopes that things would work themselves out in the end. That maybe Bakura and Melvin would work out whatever silly feud they have and would start tolerating each other to the point of actually becoming friends. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so bad for having feelings for the Egyptian, because then he would know he had his brother's approval, and that was extremely important to him. Bakura was practically the only family he had left, and if he were disappointed in him, he didn't know what he would do. It's not that he didn't care about his father's opinion; he would never want to upset him. It's just his dad was never there to judge him…

But even if Bakura did accept his love interest, there was still one problem lying in the way: Ushio. He hadn't gotten to Ryou yet, but there was nothing that said he wouldn't in the future.

The more he thought about the four of them being destined to be friends, the more far-fetched the idea seemed. It really was a silly thought to begin with, but there was a small part of him that still hoped. And a little hope can go a long way.

He felt an arm grab on to his, and immediately started to panic. He spun around quickly, eyes wide with fear.

"Don't look so worried creampuff! It's only me!" Melvin said, loosening his grip on the smaller boy.

Ryou blushed slightly at the way he had reacted; he hadn't meant to look so frightened! "Sorry Melvin, I was lost in my thoughts, what's wrong?"

"We're at the chip shop," Melvin said, pointing upwards towards the sign that read 'Crest of the Waves Fish Bar.'

"Oh, okay, let's eat!" Ryou replied with a grin, he was absolutely starving.

As they entered the building, they were immediately hit with the scent of salt and vinegar – a smell Ryou had grown to love over the years. His stomach gave a growl of approval as they made their way over to the counter to look at the menu boards behind the cashier.

Once they had decided what to eat, Ryou stepped forward to order. "Can we have four fish and chips please, two with mushy peas?"

"Of course Sir, that'll be £12," the woman on the till said, holding her hand out. "Take this," she handed him a ticket with the number thirty-two on it. "I'll call out that number once the order is done."

Ryou handed the money and thanked the woman, before the four of them walked over to one of the tables in the shop, and sat down in the plastic blue chairs. It wasn't the fanciest of places, but it was nice enough.

Ryou's mother always took him and Bakura out for fish and chips once a month as a treat. It was a tradition they all looked forward to, but when she died, they stopped. It didn't feel right going without her. But now they were here, and Ryou decided to put the past behind him and finally indulge himself.

"I'm so excited; it feels like a lifetime since we last had fish and chips," he said with a small smile.

Bakura rolled his eyes at his twin; Ryou could be overly sentimental sometimes, it was really quite annoying. "It's only food Ryou."

"It isn't just food Bakura, it has memories." he replied, slightly annoyed at the fact his brother didn't acknowledge why this was so important.

Bakura said nothing, and that uncomfortable silence fell upon them once more. Ryou was desperately trying to find something to say, but he couldn't seem to think of anything. With each passing moment, the atmosphere became increasingly more awkward. Everyone was silently willing for something to happen. It didn't matter what – anything was better than the suffocating silence surrounding them.

"Number thirty-two?" the cashier called. Ryou got up from his seat and took the tray from the counter, hoping that perhaps the food would help to diffuse the tension.

It didn't.

They ate quietly, the only sounds being the clink of cutlery, and the chatter from surrounding tables. They all prayed for something to happen, a moment of inspiration that would help spark up conversation. No such thing came.

But then it seemed their wishes were granted as the door opened. They all thanked whatever god was listening as they looked up, the opportunity for conversation finally arriving. Even if it was just to discuss the person's clothing, it was something.

Ryou looked up to see whoever had decided to enter at that moment, and felt his heart drop as a shiver of fear coursed through his entire being. He dropped his fork, not hearing the clink of it hitting the table. He was frozen in pure terror as he looked at the body standing in the doorway.

Out of all the people in England, why in the name of Ra did Ushio have to visit the same small, insignificant chip shop as Ryou?

"Ryou, are you okay?" he vaguely heard the worried tone of his brother, but he didn't reply – he was still in shock.

He saw Bakura and Melvin turn their heads in the direction Ryou was looking.

"Ushio! I knew there was something going on between the two of you! Is he bullying you again?" Bakura growled.

This snapped Ryou back to life; he picked up his fork and faked a smile. "No Bakura, I was just thinking."

"Bullshit! I know that look Ryou! You looked petrified! Has he threatened you again?"

"No Bakura! H-he hasn't done anything! Just leave it okay? We should probably go back if we want to get back before 4 o'clock."

"Ryou," Melvin said in a calmer voice than Bakura. "You don't need to lie to us, if he's hurt you we can sort this out."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm with artichoke-head on this," Bakura said.

"No! Let's just go!" Ryou shouted, slightly more panicked than he would have liked.

"What's Ushio even doing here? He should be in the museum with everyone else," Marik cut into the argument the others were having, looking at Ushio with a raised eyebrow.

"He probably had the same idea as us, but that isn't the point, I want to know what he's done to Ryou!" Bakura spat with venom in his voice.

"He hasn't done anything! We're leaving! Come on!" Ryou commanded with authority, getting up and leaving.

Bakura sighed. He couldn't just let his brother leave on his own, not whilst he was this panicked. Even if Ryou wouldn't admit it, Bakura could see it.

He looked over to Melvin, and as their eyes met, they made a silent agreement. They were going to get Ryou to tell them what's happened, and they were going to sort this Ushio problem out. No matter what.

* * *

**A/N: Awwww, Bakura and Melvin are willing to put their differences aside to help Ryou!**

**Please let me know what you think, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :3**


	13. Decisions

Ryou sat on his bed, gazing out of the window into the dark night sky.

He watched the rain drops slowly slide down the glass, leaving a small trail behind them, before reaching the bottom and resting on the window sill. He listened to the soft 'pitter patter' they made as they hit the window pane. He always did this when he was stressed; it always managed to relax him. He would stare out into the sky – rain or shine – and forget about his troubles. They seemed to float away with the clouds into the distant horizon, before disappearing completely. It left him feeling blissfully peaceful.

By doing this, whenever his problems returned, he felt prepared to face them. They became easier to tackle; it was like a newly bestowed confidence had been given to him, making him able to face the obstacles he wouldn't have been able to. He didn't know why the whole process helped – it just did.

Lately it seemed things weren't going right for the white haired boy, but the main problem he was having was his extremely messed up love life.

It was not only frustrating, but confusing as well. He had absolutely no idea how Melvin felt about him! Sure, he flirted with him, but what if that was how he treated all of his friends? After all, Ryou was his only true friend. Marik didn't count, Melvin wouldn't flirt with his brother, regardless to whether they were friends or not. It was obvious him and Bakura were NOT friends what so ever, and everyone else at school was too freaked out by him to even consider him as an acquaintance – never mind a friend. So, he wouldn't know if Melvin actually 'like-liked' him, or if that was just the way the Egyptian acted towards people he was close to.

One thing he knew for certain was that the Egyptian cared about him, he made that much clear yesterday afternoon. When they were walking back to the museum from the fish and chip shop, neither Bakura nor Melvin would stop trying to pry information out of Ryou about Ushio. They were convinced he was being bullied - which was only partially true. He hadn't been physically beaten as of yet, the only kind of attack he had endured was mental. But no matter what Ryou said, they wouldn't believe him; he had never been a very good actor.

They had said they would keep a closer eye on Ushio, much to Ryou's horror. He was trying everything he could to keep the people he cared about away from Ushio's wrath, and they weren't helping him one little bit.

Another thing that was worrying the poor boy was Melvin and Bakura's relationship. They had come together to protect him, but he had a feeling it wouldn't last. As soon as this whole mess was over, any kind of friendship the two had built would come crumbling to the ground.

He didn't really understand why the two of them didn't get along; they actually had a lot of similarities. They were witty, tough and extremely protective over Ryou. Surely it would make sense for them to become friends?

He leant against the window with a sigh; the cool glass soothing his very muddled up and confused brain. He didn't know how he was going to tackle all of his problems, but he had to find a way soon, otherwise things would just become increasingly worse.

He glanced over at the clock, seeing it was nearing 1o'clock in the morning; he decided he should try to get some sleep. Staying up and worrying wouldn't do him any good, and he didn't want to be too tired to enjoy the trip. Even though so far all the activities had been exceptionally dull, he still loved that they were in England. He was going to cherish every single moment he was here, and he couldn't do that properly if he was tired, could he?

He crawled underneath his bed sheets, resting his head on the soft pillow. With a last thought about the country he adored, he closed his eyes, finding comfort in his thoughts whilst drifting into a deep sleep.

"Oi! Ryou! Wake up!" Bakura shouted, whilst shaking his brother's arms frantically. It was strange; usually Ryou was the one doing this to him.

Ryou's eyes gently fluttered open, "'Kura?" he said groggily.

"Good morning sleeping beauty, did you enjoy your rest?" Bakura said sarcastically.

"Why are you waking me up now?"

"Because you over slept and didn't wake me up, we've missed breakfast," Bakura replied, looking pissed at his brother.

"I over slept? What time is it?" he said, sitting up in his bed whilst rubbing the remaining sleep from his eyes.

"It's 9:30, hurry up and get dressed would you?" Bakura then left the room and went into the bathroom. Ryou give a small sigh, he was still really tired, but he supposed he couldn't complain. He did usually get Bakura up a lot earlier than this, and he was less than sympathetic.

He pulled himself out of his bed and looked out the window to check the weather, not that it really mattered what it was like outside now, England was so unpredictable – it could be really sunny one minute, then raining the next. Deciding to play it safe with a blue jumper on top of a plain white shirt, he went over to the bathroom just as Bakura came out, glaring at him the entire time.

"What's wrong? I thought you would have been happy with a lie in," Ryou said, confuse by his brother vicious stare.

"Yes I am happy, but I'm pissed off that I missed breakfast, I'm starving!"

"Sorry 'Kura, I'll buy you something on the way to whatever activity we're doing today to make it up to you," Ryou replied with a small smile. Technically it wasn't completely his fault that Bakura didn't wake up by himself, but arguing would only make his brother grumpier – and there is nothing worse than a grumpy Bakura.

"Hmpf," Bakura grunted before walking over to his side of the room to get changed. Ryou shook his head as he entered the bathroom to finish getting ready.

* * *

As the two of them went downstairs to check what the day's activity would be, they were greeted by Marik and Melvin.

"Where have you two been?" Marik asked, looking somewhat worried.

"Ryou overslept so there was no one to wake me up," Bakura said nonchalantly despite his earlier annoyance.

"Can't you get up by yourself?" Melvin asked, "Or does Ryou need to do everything for you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Bakura growled, "I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself!"

"Does anyone know what we're doing today?" Ryou interjected before Melvin could reply. Ryou couldn't believe it, it was only 10:00 and they were already arguing!

"We're going up to Whitby Abbey today," Marik replied, helping Ryou try and take the attention away from Melvin and Bakura's petty fight.

"That should be a lot more interesting than that museum we were at yesterday! At least we're outside today, right?" Ryou said cheerfully.

"I bloody well hope so!" said Bakura.

"Don't worry love," said Pamela who had just entered the lobby, "Whitby Abbey is really interesting! It's very factual."

"Factual?" Bakura sighed, "We're doomed!"

"It won't be that bad Bakura!" Ryou said optimistically.

"How do you know that? It could be the worst activity for all you know!" Bakura argued.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it."

"Fine, but if it's shit I'm blaming you."

"Okay! Now let's go get on the bus!"

* * *

The coach stopped in a street surrounded by houses. When the students stepped out, the first thing that caught their attention was the huge amount of stairs that led up to the church they would be visiting.

"Frig that's a lot of stairs!" Marik exclaimed, looking up in awe.

"One hundred and ninety-nine to be exact," stated Bakura.

"Oh my god, I'm going to die!"

"Don't be such a diva Marik," Melvin said, rolling his eyes at his brother's exaggeration.

"I'm not being a diva! There's just a lot of stairs!"

"You'll survive," Bakura said, grabbing Marik's arm and dragging him up the steps.

"Hey!" Marik said as he was pulled along by Bakura's grip, "Stop manhandling me!"

"Stop being such a wimp," Bakura snapped back.

"Well excuse me if I don't like being dragged against my own will!" Marik replied, finally managing to pull his arm from Bakura's grip. "I can walk by myself thank you very much!" he said, walking in front of Bakura whilst folding his arms.

Ryou and Melvin watched the spectacle between their two brothers take place, silently walking behind until they deemed it safe enough to catch up with them.

"Holy…Ra…so…many…stairs," Marik panted once they were half way up the steps.

"Are you okay Marik? You've gone red in the face," Ryou said concerned, even he wasn't doing that bad!

"No, I'm not okay! Bakura, carry me!" he exclaimed, and with hardly any warning, collapsed into Bakura's arms.

Said teen raised an eyebrow at the Egyptian, "I thought you could walk by yourself?"

"Frig that! It's too hard!"

"So… you want me to carry up the rest of the steps?"

Marik nodded his head against Bakura's neck, tightening his hold around the white haired teen as if he expected to be lifted.

Instead he fell to the ground.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Marik asked while rubbing is butt where he had landed.

"I'm not your slave!" Bakura replied as he walked up a few more steps.

"You could have just said no!"

"You were clinging onto me, what else do you expect me to do?"

"Jerk," Marik mumbled, picking himself off the ground and pouting.

Ryou started to giggle as they continued to walk; they were now around a quarter away from the top.

"We're almost there guys!" he called excitedly, speeding up his pace until he was running, but unfortunately, the thought that running up steps that were uneven was a bad idea didn't cross his mind, causing him to crash to the ground in a rather painful way.

"Ryou!" Melvin gasped, quickly hurrying over to the teen's aid, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I should be o-ow!" he exclaimed as he tried to stand up, causing him to crash down to the ground again, "Maybe I twisted my ankle on the way down?"

"Don't worry! I'll sort this out," Melvin said, a look of deep concentration on his face as he tried to think of a solution.

"How exactly are you going to sort this out?" Marik asked sceptically, "Ryou can't walk, unless you have some sort of magical power he won't be able to."

"I'll carry him!" Melvin exclaimed, scooping Ryou up in his arms.

"N-no Melvin! You don't have to!" Ryou said frantically, but he couldn't release himself from the Egyptians grasp. It probably wasn't a smart idea for him to try either; if he did it would only result in him falling to the ground and possibly earning himself another injury.

"Tough because I am," Melvin said stubbornly as he continued to carry Ryou bridal style.

Ryou felt a small blush creep onto his face as he felt Melvin's arm muscles flex with the effort of carrying him underneath his back. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around the Egyptians neck, relaxing into his arms.

"Pssht, he gets carried and I don't," Marik complained.

"Oh shut up Marik, I'm not carrying you!" Bakura yelled as they finally neared the top of the steps.

Once they finished climbing the steps, the view of Saint Mary's Church became a lot clearer, as did the rest of the Abbey.

The Abbey itself wasn't much to look at unless you enjoyed looking at the remains of something that was built hundreds of years ago. They didn't spend much time there, but instead ventured inside the church.

"Please be respectful in here guys, this is a very old church and I don't want any of my class to be the cause of damage," the teacher said as she let the students into the building. "Melvin?" she called just before Melvin entered – Ryou still in his arms.

"Yes Miss?"

"You're going to have to put Ryou down…"

"Why?" he said, tightening his grip on the teen in his arms, causing a few giggles from people passing by.

"You can't carry him around all day, I'm sure he can walk on his own."

"He can't! He tripped over on the stairs and hurt his ankle!"

"Then put him down and help him walk instead of carrying him."

Melvin looked over at Ryou, who gave him a reassuring smile, before reluctantly lowering him down onto the ground.

"Thank you, now you can go in," the teacher said with a smile. Melvin slipped his arm around Ryou's shoulder, supporting him whilst he limped into the old building.

As they entered, they were hit with the musky sort of smell that was unique to churches. The walls were a stunning shade of white, and there was a light blue rug down the middle of the pews. The stain glass windows were decorated in colourful pictures of Saint Mary. The whole room shone with a radiance that made anyone who entered speechless.

"Wow," Ryou whispered, gazing around the room as best he could, "this place is beautiful!"

"It's alright," Melvin said looking highly unimpressed.

"How can you say it's just 'alright'?" Ryou asked, looking up at the Egyptian with confusion, "look at the windows, they're stunning!"

"Do you want to get a closer look?"

"Yes please."

The two of the struggled down the middle of the pews as they walked – or limped in Ryou's case – towards the windows.

"Now do you see what's so gorgeous about them?" Ryou asked.

"No, they just look like paintings to me," Melvin replied bluntly.

"Well, they sort of are just paintings, but look at how detailed they are! And they were created years ago," Ryou explained, hoping Melvin would understand.

"I still don't see it, sorry creampuff."

Ryou sighed, "It's okay, we should go now anyway, I need to sit down."

Melvin nodded and they left the church to find a bench.

They didn't have to search far before they found a seat, and Ryou was more than relived to take the pressure off his ankle.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Melvin asked looking over at the ice-cream truck parked across from them.

"Yes please." Ryou tried to stand up, but Melvin stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To help you pay for the ice-creams."

"No you're not! Sit down, I'll pay for these," Melvin said, pushing Ryou back down onto the seat before he could stand up anymore.

"Don't be silly Melvin; it's easier for me to pay in sterling!"

"Bullshit! You're injured; I can pay just as easily. Now what do you want?"

Ryou decided he was fighting a losing battle, so gave in to what Melvin wanted, "I'll have a vanilla cone with a flake please."

Melvin went over to the van and put in his order for two 99flakes, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey Melvin's buying ice-cream! Let's make him buy us some."

"No Marik," Melvin said, "I'm not buying you or Bakura ice-cream."

"Why not?"

"Because I only have enough money for these two," he said, showing them the cones the man had just passed to him.

"So Ryou gets one and I don't?"

"Ryou's injured," Melvin stated, before turning around to return to said white haired boy.

"He's turned you soft Melvin," Marik said, but his brother ignored him.

Once Ryou and Melvin had finished their ice-creams, they returned to the Bed and Breakfast. Their teacher helped take Ryou to Pamela who also worked as a first aider.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I tripped on the stairs on the way to Whitby Abbey…" Ryou said sheepishly, he was rather embarrassed about the whole thing.

"I see, let me have a look." She rolled up Ryou's trouser leg, before examining the wound, "It seems to me we have a sprained ankle, I'll go and fetch some painkillers and a bandage." She left the room, leaving Ryou with his own thoughts.

He couldn't help but think about how nice Melvin had been to him today, only puzzling him further as to whether the Egyptian held feelings for him. He had helped him when he most needed it, and even bought him ice-cream as a treat! He needed to get advice soon, perhaps he could ask Pamela?

Just as he thought this she returned, tablets and bandages in hand. She opened the packet of paracetamol and handed Ryou two with a glass of water.

"Take these dear, I'll wrap this bandage around your ankle," she said.

Ryou did as he was told, and in no time his ankle was securely wrapped in the bandage.

"Come and see me again in two days so I can change your bandage."

"Urm…actually…"

"Yes love?"

"I was wondering if I could get some advice on something."

"Of course dear, what's bothering you?"

"Well…how can you tell if someone likes you?"

Her face lit up in an understanding smile, "Ahhh, love troubles is it?" Ryou nodded, "well, I'm afraid that's something only you can answer, see how they act around others and if they treat you differently, there's a high possibility they could like you. Or you could just ask them."

Ryou took this information in, he supposed asking Melvin made the most sense, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself.

"Thank you Pamela," he said with a polite smile before leaving her office and going to his room. He had a lot of thinking to do.

* * *

**A/N: Hello my lovely readers :D I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!**

**If any of you get a chance, it would mean a lot if you could check out MistyGlow23's story 'A break in the ice'. It's trustshipping (Seto x Ishizu) and it's very well written. It would appreciated if you could review and tell her what you think :)**

**I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I'm aiming between Tuesday - Thursday, so hopefully see you then!**


	14. Danger!

Ryou opened his eyes on the surprisingly sunny Thursday morning, feeling extremely refreshed thanks to the amazingly goodnights sleep he had had. Because he had to rest his leg, he was forced to stay in his bed for the remainder of the day, leaving him a lot of time to think. And think he did, but not just about anything, he thought about one subject in particular – Melvin Ishtar.

He had decided that the best way to find out exactly how the Egyptian felt about him was to actually confess his feelings towards him. He had thought it through so thoroughly that he had become determined to march straight up to Melvin, look into those deep purple eyes, and express his love.

Unfortunately, that was not the case now.

Now he was worried that if he followed through with his plan, he would be making a mistake. If Melvin were to reject him he would not only be upset, but it would wreck the friendship they had managed to build up, and that was the last thing Ryou wanted to happen.

As these thoughts plagued his mind, he acquired a sick feeling in his stomach. He couldn't just ruin everything between them, and then there was the thought of Marik. He didn't want Marik to leave him as a friend because he had admitted his affections towards his brother.

But on the other hand, there was the possibility that Melvin wouldn't reject him. That Melvin actually held feelings towards him, and that they could perhaps become a couple…

A smile graced his features at the thought. It seemed so farfetched, but he couldn't really rule the possibility out - he always tried to be optimistic. It was his positive attitude that had driven him into making the decision to confess, he had somehow managed to rid himself of all negative thoughts so that he could focus on the good things that could happen. But it seemed that with a refreshed mind thanks to a goodnights sleep, he couldn't stop every thought he had managed to keep out from flooding back in. It made him feel physically sick with nerves as he thought about walking up to the Egyptian and explaining how he felt. Now he didn't know what to do.

Should he risk it? Or should he wait for a miracle that quite possibly would never come? He didn't have a clue.

He did however decide not to linger on it anymore for the time being. He carefully swung his legs over the edge of his bed, making sure to put less pressure of his wounded ankle as he stood up. Slowly, he limped over to his brother's bed to wake him up.

"'Kura, time to wake up," he said, tapping Bakura's shoulders as he did so. His brother gave a soft grunt before opening his eyes.

"Why are you out of bed?" he asked instantly.

"We need to go down for breakfast…" Ryou replied, confused.

"Yes I know that, but shouldn't you be resting your leg?" Bakura raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"I'm not going to miss a day just because of a small inconvenience."

"I'm not going to argue you with you, just don't start whining if you're in pain," Bakura said as he started to get up from his bed.

"Don't worry, I won't," Ryou said with a smile as he hobbled towards the bathroom to get ready.

"Shouldn't you be resting your leg?" Melvin asked the same question that Bakura had as soon as Ryou and Bakura sat down for breakfast.

"I'll be okay, it doesn't hurt that much anymore," he said with a reassuring smile, "do you know what we're doing today?"

"Yeah, we're going to the lighthouse," Marik answered.

"Oh…" Ryou said, looking at Bakura with big, sad eyes.

"It's alright Ry'," Bakura said whilst patting his brothers back, "you don't have to come if you're not up for it."

"N-no…I should go. I can't hide from it for the rest of my life."

"But you don't have to face it today."

"No, I-I want to."

The Egyptians watched the Brits in confusion, why was Ryou so bothered by lighthouses?

Seemingly noticing the curiosity, Bakura spoke, "Don't bother asking, it's going to be hard enough for him today without having to answer questions."

"Bakura, it's okay, they can know if they want…I don't mind."

"No, do you remember what happened the last time you tried to speak about it?" he questioned his brother.

"Y-yes, but that was ages ago! I'm sure it won't bother me as much now…"

Bakura sighed at his brother's stubbornness, "Ryou the mere mention of a lighthouse affected you, how do you think re-living that moment is going to make you feel?"

Tears began to well in Ryou's eyes as he remembered that tragic day, "I suppose you're right 'Kura," as he said this, he saw the looks of disappointment on their faces, "I'll tell you eventually just…not today."

Marik nodded in understanding, he too knew what it felt like to have painful memories, "It's okay Ryou, tell us when you want to."

Melvin however still look concerned but he didn't voice it. He didn't want to pressure Ryou into talking about it, but he promised himself he would find out soon.

Once they had finished eating, they made their way to the coach that would take them to the lighthouse.

During the whole ride, Ryou was greeted with torturing images from the past, but he still didn't regret his choice to come. He needed to be strong about this and face it – it was the only way he could get over it.

The coach pulled up in front of Whitby Harbour. In front of them was a long, concrete slab walkway with a fence surrounding it to keep the passing public safe from falling over the edge. At the end of the walkway was the lighthouse.

They spent a couple of hours walking around the harbour – though there wasn't much to see.

After circling around for the fifth time, they decided to go into the lighthouse. Ryou was forced to stay behind because of his ankle - it'd be too dangerous for him to attempt the stairs with him being slightly unstable.

"You guys have fun! Take a picture from the top for me!" he called out towards them, not in the slightest bit bothered about having to stay behind. He knew if he actually went into the lighthouse he would have a breakdown. The memories of that day still haunted him…

He didn't want to think about them now, so he let his mind wander on to a much more enjoyable topic.

As he found himself a small bench facing the lighthouse, his mind brought him back to one thought in particular: to tell Melvin, or to not tell Melvin.

He wanted to let him know so badly, but he was afraid. Afraid of being rejected; afraid of feeling unwanted; afraid of losing two of his closest friends. But he couldn't carry on not knowing, it was driving him crazy! He had to sort it out before he lost his sanity.

The smartest thing for him to do would be to admit his feelings and get it over and done with. That's what his heart wanted, but his head was a different matter.

His mind kept telling him to wait, but what was he waiting for? Would Melvin magically start liking him one day and confess to him? It seemed unlikely. So it was either he could make the first move and hope for the best, or do absolutely nothing at all.

He was going to do it.

He smiled to himself; he was really going to do it.

"HEY CREAMPUFF," Melvin shouted from atop the lighthouse, making Ryou jump a little, "SAY CHEESE!" he noticed the camera in the Egyptians hand and smiled.

God, he was really going to do this.

He was going to tell Melvin everything.

But how should he do it? Should he be blunt and just walk up to him, admitting his feelings? Or should he build up to it?

The churn of nerves in his stomach told him to build up to it – he didn't think he could do it straight away.

But what should he say? How is someone supposed approach a situation like this? He'd never done anything like this before!

He looked up, but Melvin was no longer visible – they were coming down.

Ryou started shaking; the butterflies in his stomach were making him feel sick. He needed to get Melvin on his own, but how could he do that? If Bakura saw him drag Melvin away he'd become suspicious. Why was this so complicated?

He saw them approaching and his heart raced, he let out a shaky breath as he ran a hand through his hair and stood up.

"You alright Ry'? You look pale," Bakura said, looking worriedly at his brother.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine!" Ryou said quickly, not convincing his brother, "I-I just need to...go for a walk! I'll meet you at the BnB." He started to walk off when Bakura caught his arm.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I just need to clear my head." It wasn't a lie, he really did need to clear his head, but it wasn't for the reason Bakura thought it was.

"Okay, just be careful." He released Ryou's arm, and the smaller Brit started to walk away.

"Why did you let him go? Something's clearly bothering him!" Marik yelled at Bakura.

"He's upset about something that happened when we were children; he needs to clear his head. I knew he shouldn't have come here."

But Bakura was wrong, it wasn't that traumatic day that made Ryou leave, it was his nerves. He needed to plan out exactly what he was going to say to Melvin and how he was going to say it.

He continued to walk quickly down the street, not paying much attention to where he was going. When he figured he was a far enough distance away, he leant his back against a wall. He didn't have much time, if he was gone for too long they'd get suspicious.

He wanted to tell him as soon as possible, preferably today. The only time he would be able to get Melvin on his own would be before dinner – they're allowed an hours free time to get ready. He could pretend to be going into his room to borrow something, and confess then. Marik wouldn't be a problem; he always spends most of his time in the bathroom.

Now he knew when he was going to do it, but how should he do it? Should he memorise exactly what he was going to say, or live in the heat of the moment? He couldn't think of what to say, so he supposed the latter would have to do. It couldn't be too hard, right?

He stood upright, he should really go back to the Bed and Breakfast, it was starting to get dark and he didn't really know how far away he was.

As he started to walk, a low, evil sounding laugh emitted behind him, stopping him in his tracks. Slowly, he tried to turn around, but a hand blocked his vision. He felt another arm snake around his waist, walking him backwards.

Too scared to scream, he allowed his body to be moved. He was frozen in terror, but his situation didn't sink in properly.

Suddenly they stopped walking, and it hit him with full force. He was in danger.

As soon the hands were released from his body, he attempted to run, vaguely aware that he was in an alley, and had absolutely no clue where he was.

His ankle decided to choose that time to hurt like hell, causing him to crash down violently to the ground. His head banged against the ground, and he felt a small line of blood trickle its way down his face.

"Silly little Ryou," his capturer purred, "did you think you could escape that easily?" he was pulled roughly upwards by his collar, and slammed against a wall. His head jerked backwards, smacking into the concrete. A sharp pain shot through his skull, making his vision black out for a second. He closed his eyes in terror, but all that resulted in was being slammed against the wall again. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" his attacker growled. Slowly, Ryou opened his eyes, his vision was slightly blurred, but he could vaguely make out the outline of whoever was in front of him, and then it clicked. The voice that struck terror in his heart, the outline of the man big enough to throw another person around as if they were a rag doll, the person who held a grudge against not only him, but his brother – there was only one person this could be.

His attacker smirked as the realisation dawned on Ryou's face.

"U-Ushio?"

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**A/N: I'm so mean to Ryou in this fic! **

**Will anybody come to save our little creampuff, or will he be beaten to a pulp by Ushio?**

**Find out next time!**

**Reviews are appreciated as always :3**


	15. Got What You Deserve

**A/N: This is probably one of the quickest times I've ever updated, this chapter was just so fun to write! **

**Quick warning: There's a lot more swearing than usual in this chapter, sorry if this bothers anybody!**

* * *

"U-Ushio?"

"Yes Ryou, did you think you could avoid me for the rest of your life? I told you I would get you, and I never break my promises." The smirk on his face disappeared quickly, and instead his ugly features contorted into a look of pure anger, "You thought you could hide behind you brother, didn't you? I told you, I'm not afraid of him anymore."

Ryou gulped as the grip on his collar tightened. If he was frightened before, it didn't compare to how he was feeling now. His life was in the merciless hands of a man who clearly hated him, and nobody knew where he was - not even he knew. To put it simply, he was doomed.

"Now you're going to get what you deserve, you little faggot." Ushio let go of his hold on Ryou and raised his arm, preparing to punch.

Ryou watched the fist grow closer to his face, unable to move for a few seconds before his instincts kicked in.

Reflexively, he ducked out of the way, causing Ushio's hand to smack painfully against the concrete wall. Small spots of blood dripped from his knuckles as he swore under his breath. Ryou wormed his way past Ushio, managing to break free for a moment.

"You little shit," he growled, sounding even angrier. He spun around just as Ryou started to run again, pulling him backwards. His hands returned to the boy's collar, clutching him forwards until they were nose to nose.

Ryou could feel Ushio's revolting breath on his skin; he could see every crease that wrinkled the already ugly face, making him look more ghastly than he already was - if that even were possible. Perhaps attempting to run wasn't his best move.

"You're going to pay for that." A hand stayed firmly planted on Ryou's collar as another snuck its way up to his throat. He crushed the small, fragile neck in his gigantic hand, cutting off Ryou's oxygen supply.

Ryou gasped for air, but it was to no avail. Ushio watched him squirm with sadistic pleasure, but he didn't want this to end so quickly. He wanted to draw out the pain, to torture the defenceless boy until he was pleading for him to stop.

He slammed his foot down onto the boy's sprained ankle - he couldn't risk him trying to escape again. He pressed down with as much force as he could; enjoying the way Ryou's eyes grew wide as his mouth let out choked sounds of pain.

He wasn't going to last much longer, he could feel his eyes starting to close, but he fought to keep them open. If he lost consciousness he would be totally vulnerable to Ushio's attacks.

The darkness was becoming more powerful; it started to envelope him, closing in around him. It was so tempting to just give up and slip away into the comfort it was bringing, but he couldn't. He didn't want to give up that easily, even if he was currently defenceless.

But he knew if he allowed himself to lose awareness, all of the pain would go away. The pain that was shooting through his ankle, the burning in his lungs, and the pressure against his wind pipes. It would all disappear. The more he dwelled on it, the nicer the idea sounded. He couldn't remember why he was fighting to remain conscious, the idea sounded ridiculous!

Just as he gave into the temptations, Ushio released his grip and he was sent crashing to the ground.

He clutched at his throat, coughing and gasping, trying to fill his lungs up as much as possible. He suddenly remembered why he needed to stay awake, if he didn't Ushio would take complete advantage. Who knows what he would do? For all Ryou knew he could end up dead!

It dawned on Ryou at that moment that Ushio really wouldn't care if he beat him to death. Maybe that's what he was planning to do? He wouldn't put it past him; he had almost killed him just moments ago.

Ryou attempted to pick himself up off the floor, when a sharp pain shot up his leg, causing him to cry out and fall back down.

Ushio watched him scramble around on the floor, letting out a slow, vindictive laugh. The noise only made Ryou more determined to stand up, so he tried again, this time managing to get on his knees. He placed one hand on the wall, steadying himself as he shakily stood up. He gritted his teeth at the pain, but did not fall again.

There was one thing that was bothering him though, why was Ushio allowing him to get back up again? Why was he just watching him struggle? It didn't make any sense.

Everything became clear as Ushio delivered a harsh punch to the side of his face, crashing him back to the floor.

Now Ushio didn't hold back. He sent kicks all over the white haired boy's body, making Ryou whimper with each blow to his bruised and battered form. Tears filled in his eyes, why was this happening? He had always tried to be good. He never broke any rules, he was polite, he achieved good grades, and he never caused any trouble. He didn't deserve this!

Yet here he was, being beaten to a bloody pulp, all because he was gay.

Suddenly the blows stopped, and he let out a small sigh of relief, before he was scooped up and once again thrown against the wall. He really hated that wall.

"And now we turn our attention to the main event," Ushio said with some humour in his voice. He reached behind his back, and pulled something out of his pocket.

When Ryou saw what it was, his heart stopped.

He had a knife.

He really was going to kill him.

More tears pooled in Ryou's eyes, he was going to be slaughtered to death in an alley and no one would know except Ushio. He would never see his family again, he would never see his friends again, and he would never see Melvin again.

Ushio pressed the knife against Ryou's neck. The blade pressed down into the delicate flesh, causing Ryou to whimper. Beads of crimson red blood ran down his skin, contrasting greatly with his pale white tone.

All Ryou could think about was Melvin. Why had he waited so long to tell him how he felt? Now he would never get the chance. He would never know if those feelings were mutual. He would never see that beautiful, tanned, muscular body. He would never hear that deep, husky voice. He would never be able to lose himself in those dark purple eyes. His heart sank. The last thing he would ever see was Ushio - what a terrible way to go.

"Your kind doesn't deserve to live. I hope you rot in hell, you disgusting piece of shit," Ushio said as he brought the knife away from Ryou's neck and raised it into the air. Ryou closed his eyes, awaiting the impact that would drain him of his existence.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"

Ryou's eyes snapped open; he knew that voice, but it couldn't be…could it?

"GET AWAY FROM MY CREAMPUFF!" his saviour stepped closer, and Ryou felt his heart race.

Melvin was here. That's all he could think about. Melvin was here, he was going to be alright. Melvin was here.

He didn't register the way Ushio dropped the knife out of shock, or the way he fell to the ground as the grip on his collar was loosened, or the way Melvin ran towards Ushio, throwing the huge man as far away from Ryou as he possibly could. All he could think about was the fact Melvin was here to save him.

He was, however, snapped back into reality when he heard a loud scream emitting from his right. He turned towards the noise, and saw that Melvin had Ushio pressed face first into a wall.

The Egyptian grabbed Ushio's hair, pulling his head backwards with a powerful force. Ryou could see tears well in Ushio's eyes from the pain, but he felt absolutely no sympathy. As much as he hated seeing people being hurt, watching Ushio like this was exceptionally satisfying.

"What the FUCK is your problem? Ryou has done NOTHING to you!" Melvin growled, but Ushio kept his mouth firmly shut. Melvin pushed his head forwards, slamming his forehead into the concrete, before pulling it backwards again, "Fucking answer me when I talk to you, you bastard."

"Get your filthy hands off me, faggot," Ushio replied, although with less vigour than the way he had spoken to Ryou. He spat directly in Melvin's face, causing anger to light up in the Egyptians already psychotic looking eyes.

"You little bitch; I'm going to fucking kill you!" Melvin spat back, before throwing Ushio's forehead against the wall once more. This time when he pulled him back, he moved his whole body, before kneeing him the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Ushio doubled over, cradling his stomach in his hands. Melvin wacked him on the back, causing him to fall straight onto the ground, much like Ryou only a few moments earlier. He smashed his foot into the huge man's face, and a sickening crack was heard as blood trickled from his nostrils.

Melvin picked him off the ground, before throwing a punch directly at his already broken nose. He didn't stop after just one; he kept belting punches in the man's face, making him move backwards from the force until he was up against the other wall.

Melvin stopped his punches once Ushio looked battered enough and watched as the pathetic man slid down the wall, unable to do anything else.

Ushio put his palms on the ground in an attempt to stand up, but Melvin slammed his heel into his knuckles, making him cry out in pain.

"Stay away from Ryou," Melvin roared, digging his foot further into Ushio's hand, "I don't want you to bother him anymore, understand?"

Ushio whimpered but didn't reply. Melvin took the pressure off of his hand and knelt down, once again gripping the back of his head so hard his nails were digging into his scalp.

"I said do you understand?" he growled through gritted teeth.

"Yes," Ushio replied with just as much venom.

"Good, 'cause if you do bother him again, I won't go as easy on you." Melvin started to walk away, but froze and turned around. He delivered one last kick to Ushio's head, causing said man to black out completely, before going over to Ryou.

"Ryou? Are you okay?" he asked, his voice was laced with concern.

"I-I think so, I don't think anything is broken," Ryou said hoarsely, his throat still hurting from when he had been strangled.

A look of relief flooded Melvin's features. He took the smaller boy into his arms, cradling him against his chest. His hand ran through the fluffy white tresses in a comforting motion, "Why didn't you tell me he was bothering you?" his voice was soft, almost hurt.

"I didn't want to cause any trouble," Ryou replied meekly, all he could focus on was the feeling of being buried in Melvin's chest. He never thought he would get this chance; he wanted to savour this feeling.

"Dammit Ryou!" Melvin's words had taken on an angrier tone; he ripped Ryou from his chest and held his arms in his hands, looking him straight in the eye. "You almost died!"

"I-I know! I-I didn't think Ushio would take it this far! I'm s-sorry!" Small tears rolled down Ryou's cheeks, he really didn't realise how bad things would become.

Melvin sighed, "That's not the point Ryou! Bakura and I asked you over and over about whether Ushio was bothering you and you lied to us! If I didn't follow you when you left, you would be dead right now."

This only made Ryou sob harder. He had made a terrible mistake, but he honestly didn't realise how serious the matter was. Perhaps if he had been aware of how far Ushio was willing to go he would have told someone. He shouldn't have hid anything from Melvin, if anything it caused an even bigger mess.

He knew then what he had to do. He promised himself he would never lie again, which meant he had to tell Melvin how he felt, and had to do it now. Who knew what other obstacles would get in the way? He had to do it while he still had the chance.

"Melvin I-I-"

"It's okay Ryou you don't need to say anything, just please don't lie to me again," Melvin interrupted.

"But Melvin I-"

"Ryou it's fine, you don't have to say anything else."

"Melvin please lis-"

"Honestly Ryou, you don't have to speak."

Ryou's aggravation grew. He needed to tell Melvin but he wasn't being given the chance. He decided there was only one way he could tell the Egyptian without the worry of being interrupted. He let out a shaky breath as the familiar sensation of butterflies entered his stomach.

He put a hand on Melvin's shoulder, before moving slightly closer.

Melvin raised an eyebrow, "Ryou, what are you doing?"

Ryou didn't answer him, but instead grew closer, inch by inch, until their noses were touching. He stopped for a moment to stare into the deep purple depths of the Egyptians eyes. His heart was pounding like crazy - he had never done something like this before! What if he was making a huge mistake?

He shook the thoughts away, it was now or never. Slowly, he let his eyes slid shut, before he lent in further, tenderly touching Melvin's lips with his own in a soft, lingering kiss.

He pulled away slowly whilst turning the deepest shade of crimson possible. Melvin's eyes were wide in shock as he stared at the Brit, mouth slightly agape. He never thought Ryou would make such a bold move.

A few moments passed in complete silence, making Ryou more nervous by the second. "C-could you say something?" he asked quietly, looking down at the ground.

Melvin's shocked expression quickly turned into a cocky smirk. He reached out to tilt Ryou's chin up with a single finger, until their eyes met, and said, "Well if that's all you wanted, why didn't you just say so?" before crashing their lips together once more.

This kiss was nothing like the first. This was filled with a hunger that had been waiting to be satisfied. Their lips moved against each other perfectly, but no one moved to deepen the kiss. They were both fully aware that they were still in the middle of an alleyway and that they should probably leave, but neither could muster up the strength to pull away. They had both been waiting for this moment for so long, it felt like they had to keep going to make sure this wasn't just a dream.

Eventually, it was Ryou who stopped first, looking at Melvin with a smile on his lips, "D-does this mean that we're…we're…you know."

"Together? Only if you want us to be."

Ryou's smile widened. He nodded his head, "Yes, I do, but there's just one thing."

"What's that?"

"Bakura, he can't know. He doesn't seem to like you very much…I don't know how he'd react if you and me were…a couple."

Melvin's smirk grew, "You're willing to go behind your own brother's back just for us to be together? How touching," he said the ending with a hint of sarcasm.

"J-just promise me," Ryou said slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want your brother finding out anyway, all he does is cause problems," Melvin replied with a bitter tone, causing Ryou to frown. He was going to ask why Melvin hated his brother so much, but decided now was neither the time nor the place.

"Melvin, don't you think we should go?"

"Yes we should, we would have left a while ago if you hadn't of distracted me." Melvin winked at him before he scooped him up in his arms with ease and started to carry him away from the alley. Ryou leant into the Egyptians warmth, throwing his arms around his neck. He hadn't realised how tired he was, he had been running on pure adrenaline earlier. Now his whole body felt drained and ached terribly, begging for the opportunity to relax.

He replayed the last few moments in his mind, still not able to believe they had actually happened. It all seemed like a wonderful dream; it was just too good to be true. He found himself glancing up at Melvin just to make sure that this was in fact reality, that it was true he hadn't been rejected, and that he and Melvin were actually together now.

These thoughts circled around in his mind, making his heart feel like it was going to explode. This time he did not hesitate as the darkness consumed him, and he fell into a deep sleep in Melvin's arms

* * *

"OH MY GODS!" Marik screamed as he saw Melvin enter the Bed and Breakfast with Ryou in his arms, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

Bakura came into the hallway after hearing Marik's scream, and his face turned into a look of rage when he saw the state his brother was in.

"That bastard Ushio is what happened! If I didn't get there when I did...let's just say Ryou wouldn't be with us right now," Melvin replied whilst looking down at the boy in his arms.

"That fucker! I knew there was something going on, wait until I get him!" Bakura said looking the angriest anyone had ever seen him. He started to walk towards the door, but Marik grabbed his arm.

"Don't do anything stupid, Baku!"

"Baku?" Melvin snorted in humour, "what kind of nickname is that?"

"Shut up! We're not discussing Marik's stupid nicknames for me; we're discussing how I'm going to kill Ushio!"

"Calm down snowy, I already took care of him."

"You killed him?" Marik gasped in shock, dropping Bakura's arm from his grip.

"No, but when he eventually wakes up he'll wish I had," Melvin replied with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Huh, I doubt that," Bakura mumbled quietly.

"Excuse me? If I recall correctly you didn't want to go after Ryou, you said he needed 'space', if it wasn't for me, he'd be dead!" Melvin retorted, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Don't you fucking dare blame this on me!" Bakura yelled back, stepping closer to the Egyptian.

"Guys please don't fight! You'll wake Ryou up. What he needs right now is rest, not two of his friends arguing! It's probably best he goes up to bed, Pamela left after dinner so we'll have to wait before anyone can check his injuries," Marik said, remaining the only level-headed person in the situation.

Melvin and Bakura looked at Marik, both wanting to continue their argument, but both knowing he was right.

"Give him to me Melvin," Bakura commanded, holding his arms out.

"You think you can carry him? You're the same size as him! I'll take him up," Melvin replied as he started walking up the stairs.

Bakura bit back an insult as he followed the Egyptian upstairs. Right now all that mattered was making sure Ryou was okay.

* * *

**A/N: I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'm quite nervous about it so feedback would be lovely!**

**There's going to be around 5 more chapters left. **


	16. Relaxation

**A/N: I had a horrible case of writers block during this chapter, so I really hope you guys enjoy it!**

**_Italics = _flashback**

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Bakura watched the soft rise and fall of his brother's chest as Ryou slept peacefully. The poor boy must have been tired, it was nearing 11am and he hadn't stirred once. The injuries he had acquired weren't serious, but he did have a few nasty bruises that would only heal through time and rest. Their teacher had tried to convince Bakura to go out on the day's activity, but he had refused. He didn't want to leave Ryou alone all day; he knew his brother would freak out if he woke up by himself.

Melvin and Marik had also offered to stay behind, much to their teacher's displeasure, but she couldn't refuse them – it wouldn't be fair if she did. They had decided to stay downstairs whilst Bakura waited for Ryou to wake up, leaving him with some very rare time to himself.

Oddly enough, his train of thought had decided to take him to a certain blond haired tanned boy.

He wasn't one to waste time thinking over such trivial things as feelings, but there was one thing that was really bothering him – why did he enjoy Marik's company so bloody much?

At first the Egyptian irritated him to no end. His stupid nasally voice and obnoxious, domineering personality used to exasperate Bakura to the point where he wanted to punch Marik in the face, but now he didn't mind him as much. It was like he had become immune to all of the foolish comments and could now tolerate the stupidity. He could possibly even go as far as to say Marik was…endearing?

Perhaps that was going too far, but Bakura did feel more affection towards the Egyptian than he had done previously, maybe even enough to consider him a friend – a title nobody other than his brother was worthy of.

He had started thinking about the possibility of being friends with Marik ever since they had been alone together last night.

Once their siblings had left after the lighthouse, they decided to go back to the Bed and Breakfast due to a lack of anything better to do.

"_Why are you so against nicknames?" Marik asked as they ate their dinner._

"_What do you mean?" Bakura inquired, cutting a chunk off of his steak._

_Marik glanced at the meat dripping in blood with a revolted expression, but did not comment on it, "Ryou is the only one you let call you ''Kura', why won't you let anyone else give you a nickname?"_

_Bakura placed the steak in his mouth, chewing on it slowly as if in deep thought, before swallowing, "I only let him get away with it because he's my brother. I have nothing against nicknames, but you seem to have a talent for coming up with exceptionally bad ones."_

* * *

_Marik frowned, "What's wrong with fluffy?"_

"_Do you really need to ask? It's so bloody girly!"_

"_I think it's cute."_

"_Do I look cute to you?" Bakura said whilst giving his best attempt at an annoyed scowl. Usually he could pull them off quite well, but this one looked a lot more like a pout._

"_When you do that, then yes, yes you do," Marik giggled a little, causing Bakura to roll his eyes. "But that isn't why I think fluffy is such a good name for you."_

"_Well why do you?"_

"_It's because of your hair!" Marik reached out across the table to pet Bakura's hair. _

_Bakura slapped his hand away, "Stop it!"_

_Marik ignored him and reached out again, stroking the long locks, "You and Ryou have the softest hair I've ever seen!"_

_Bakura sighed, this time he didn't attempt to knock Marik's hand away, "Why don't you call Ryou 'fluffy' then?"_

"_Because… I don't really know," Marik said looking slightly confused. "I guess I could try and come up with a better nickname…"_

"_Yes, please do."_

_Marik finally removed his hand from Bakura's mane as a look of concentration came over his features. He toyed with his salad as he became lost in thought. Bakura watched him with mild amusement._

"_AHHA!" Marik shouted, causing a few people to stare at him, "I have figured out the perfect name for you!"_

"_What would that be?"_

"_Okay, prepare yourself for this, it's an amazing name."_

"_Just bloody tell me will you?"_

"_The brilliant nickname I have thought of for you is…"_

"_Is…?" Bakura prompted, trying to get Marik to tell him sooner. _

"_Baku!"_

"_Baku?"_

"_Yes, Baku."_

_Bakura thought for a long moment, trying to decide whether the name was worthy to be used on him. It certainly wasn't as girly as 'fluffy' or 'Kura,' or as annoying as those idiotic names Melvin gave him. He supposed it would be okay. "Well…it's not terrible, I suppose." _

"_Great! From now on you shall be called Baku!" Marik exclaimed in excitement, looking quite proud with himself._

"_Why were you so desperate to give me a nickname anyway?"_

_As Bakura said this, Marik's delighted expression faded, "I-I don't really know…"_

"_You must have a reason," Bakura said with a raised eyebrow._

"_Nope, I really don't have a reason! None whatsoever!" Marik said quickly, "I think I'm going to go up to bed, it's been a long day…Goodbye!" he got up and left rapidly, leaving a very confused Bakura behind._

"_What a strange boy," he mumbled to himself as he finished off the rest of his steak._

_He was going to wait for the deserts to be served, when he heard a nasally shout of 'OH MY GODS!' coming from the hallway. Wondering what had caused Marik such a shock, he decided to investigate._

* * *

That was when he saw his brother looking particularly battered as he hung in Melvin's arms, fast asleep. He frowned at the memory, but decided not to dwell on it. He had spent most of the morning thinking about it. He instead brought his attention back to his earlier train of thought.

He had been confused about his relationship with Marik ever since last night. In fact, he was confused about the whole friendship thing full stop. Florence Bakura was one of the most feared people in the entire school! He shouldn't be wasting his time contemplating over whether he had befriended an effeminate Egyptian or not.

Yet here he was, doing exactly just that.

He supposed they were friends…he didn't know what else they could be classed as. They were too close to be mere acquaintances, but he had never been close to anyone other than Ryou before – he didn't know how to class someone as a friend.

Why was he fretting so much over this anyway? This type of thing would have never bothered him before, why was he suddenly so concerned about his relationships? It baffled him how in just a few months, one boy could impact on his life so much.

"'Kura?" Ryou's soft voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, good morning," said Bakura, slightly dazed.

"What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Almost midday," Bakura replied.

"WHAT?" Ryou's eyes widened in shock. He tried to sit up, but winced from the pain in his torso and ended up sinking back down again. "Does that mean we aren't going out today?"

"You need to rest Ryou."

"I would have been fine!" he argued, trying to sit up again, but only managing to cause himself more pain.

"You can barely sit up, I don't think you would have managed to walk around the town," Bakura said matter-of-factly.

Ryou pouted, "I could have tried."

"You would've injured yourself even more Ryou, the rest will do you good."

Ryou seemed to think about this before he replied, "I can go out tomorrow though, right?"

"Well I don't-" Bakura stopped mid-sentence when he saw the disheartened look on his brother's face. He sighed before deciding to approach the subject with more sensitivity, "If you think you can then…yes you can go out tomorrow."

Ryou's face lit up as his lips curved into a brilliant grin, "Thank you Bakura!"

"Hmm…but if you're in pain, don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't!" Ryou gave his brother a smile, before yet again attempting to sit up. He gritted his teeth against the pain and managed to pull himself into a sitting position, before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bakura asked.

"I'm getting out of bed…" Ryou said, giving his brother a confused look as he stated the obvious.

"I gathered that, but why are you? Didn't I just tell you, you have to rest?"

"You can't expect me to stay in here all day." Ryou stood up despite the obvious pain it caused him, and started to walk towards the bathroom. Bakura was up in a flash, standing behind his brother in case he fell over.

"What did I say about resting?" Bakura was getting annoyed now; his brother's stubbornness was really making things difficult.

"Can't I go downstairs? There isn't very much to do up here…"

"What makes you think there will be more to do downstairs than up here?" Bakura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know…I just don't want to be stuck up here all day!" Ryou gave Bakura the most pathetic look he could muster.

"Fine!" Bakura almost shouted, the little patience he had was starting to crumble, but he didn't want to stress Ryou out by yelling at him.

However, Ryou didn't seem to notice his brother's mood, and instead tried to bend over to pick his clothes up. "Ow!"

"I knew you would end up hurting yourself…" Bakura mumbled to himself, but it didn't go unheard by Ryou.

"I'm not hurt!" he said as he bent down to try and pick the clothes up again. It hurt a little, but it was bearable.

Bakura watched his brother struggle, noticing the look of pain on his face. He had to admit he was impressed; Ryou wasn't making a sound – not even a whimper.

He finally stood up with a proud look on his face, although his hands were clutching his bruised torso as well as his shirt, "See? I'm not that bad! This means we can go downstairs now, right?" he asked hopefully.

Bakura still wasn't happy with his brother being overly mobile today; a long rest in bed would have done him good! But he didn't want to argue anymore – he knew he would lose. "Yes, we can go downstairs, but you need to stay sat down!"

Ryou could only agree with his brother, his body did hurt but he didn't want to be stuck in the same room all day – that would have been exceptionally depressing! "I promise I'll stay put once I'm down there."

"Good, now go and do what you have to do in the bathroom, I'll be out here if you need me."

* * *

Marik and Melvin sat on the overly squishy couches in the Bed and Breakfasts lounge, watching a terrible film on the very basic, square TV in front of them, but neither of them were paying much attention.

"How long do you think Ryou will be?" Melvin asked, an unusual amount of concern coating his words as he looked at the doorway hoping for it to open soon.

Marik sighed, he was becoming increasingly annoyed with his brother's constant worrying, "Stop asking me that, Bakura said he would come down and get us as soon as Ryou woke up."

"But what if there's something seriously wrong with him?"

"Look, I know you're in love with him and everything, but would you please just shut up!" Marik snapped, he knew Ryou would be alright, Pamela had said so herself last night!

Melvin's expression turned from one of worry, to one of irritation, "I am not _in love_ with Ryou, you little shit! I'm just concerned."

Marik could have sworn he saw his brothers cheeks heat up, and of course, he was going to use this to his advantage, "Oh Melvin, was that a blush I saw?"

"W-what? No! I don't 'blush' you idiot!"

"I think you did! See, you're doing it again!" Marik stretched out his hand to poke his brothers cheek, which was tinted a faint shade of red.

Melvin batted Marik's hand away, growling at him in annoyance, "I'm red because I'm angry for having such a stupid twat as a brother!"

"Oooooh, touchy today aren't we?" Marik teased.

Melvin stood up, narrowing his eyes at his brother, "I don't have the patience to deal with fucking morons like you. I'm going to check on Ryou."

Marik had to bite down on his lip to stop himself from laughing, he never realised how sensitive his brother was about his _love interests. _It was highly amusing to see him get so riled up, but he knew when to stop pushing his luck.

Melvin gave one last glare to the back of Marik's head, before opening the door.

"Oh! Hello Melvin!" Ryou said slightly startled, his hand outstretched from reaching for the door knob at the same time as the Egyptian.

Melvin blinked a few times, before giving a huge sigh of relief. He had to fight the urge to squeeze the white haired boy in front of him. "Thank god you're okay," he mumbled under his breath.

"Hey artichoke head, are you planning on moving? Ryou can't stand up for very long!" Bakura growled from behind his brother.

"Don't exaggerate 'Kura, I'm not disabled…" Ryou mumbled half-heartedly, they had argued about his mobility since he had woken up, he didn't want to start that all over again.

Surprisingly, Melvin moved without much of a fight. He was just too happy that his little creampuff was alright.

The rest of the day was spent with the three teens waiting on Ryou as if he were royalty. He got to kick back and relax whilst the others ran all over the B and B for him, making sure that his hunger was satisfied and his thirst was quenched. As nice as the attention was, Ryou couldn't help but feel bad. It wasn't their fault he was in such a bad state, in fact it was entirely his for not telling anyone about his problems. But whenever he had objected, he got told to 'stop being so silly,' which became extremely repetitive after a while.

The whole situation made him more determined to go out tomorrow, regardless how taxing the activity may be.

At around 5:00pm they heard the other students return. Bakura had gone to the kitchen to get some food, so Marik took it upon himself to report on how well Ryou was doing, leaving Ryou and Melvin alone for the first time all day.

As soon as the door was shut, Melvin practically leaped on Ryou, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

A cute pink hue tinted Ryou's cheeks as he giggled, "Of course I'm okay! You saved me, remember?"

Melvin sat down next to Ryou in a more sophisticated way before answering, "Just because I got there before he could kill you doesn't mean you weren't badly hurt," he replied in a rather blunt way.

Ryou flinched a little at the memory, "But I'm not badly hurt, so everything is fine," he said with a smile on his lips.

"Yes, everything is so _fine_," Melvin said with a smirk, before he leant down to capture Ryou's lips in a tender kiss.

Ryou squeaked from surprise, before his eyes slid shut. He let himself get lost in the Egyptians warmth, before pushing him away slightly, "Stop! They could walk in any minute!"

Melvin sniggered, "I'm sorry creampuff, but you just looked so delicious, how could I keep my hands off?" he leant down to give Ryou another quick peck on the lips before the boy could do anything. When he pulled away, he smirked down at the Brit, "and this makes it all the more exciting."

Ryou felt his face heat up, but he couldn't deny he liked Melvin's kisses. He liked them _a lot._ "But Bakura will still kill you if he finds out!"

"But he won't find out my little sweetheart, because I'm the master of-" just as Melvin was about to finish his sentence, the door started to open. He jumped out of his seat and practically ran over to the couch where he was originally sat.

Marik stepped into the room, his face quickly filling with suspicion as he looked between his brother and the very red faced, blushing Ryou.

"What did you do to him?"

"Me? I did nothing!" Melvin replied, trying to feign innocence the best he could – which wasn't very well.

Marik raised an eyebrow at his brother, but didn't press the matter – he could always pester him later, right now he had news. "When I spoke to the teacher she told me that tomorrow we would be heading down to the arcades by the beach! Apparently we're going to do something fun and exciting because it's our last full day here," he said with enthusiasm, they were actually going to have a good day!

Ryou, however, felt his heart sink. He had forgotten they were only here for another two days. Now he was more determined than ever to go along with the class, he wasn't going to miss out again. He was going to enjoy his last day whether he was in pain or not!

* * *

**A/N: Yes, our English adventure is almost over, but fear not! I sort of lied when I said there will only be 5 more chapters...I re-did my plan and now there are a few more...so expect around 7 :3**

**There will also be a lot more deathshipping goodness in the next chapter! So I'll see you all next week :D**


	17. The Last Day

"'Kura I'll be fine!" Ryou exclaimed as he walked down the stairs behind his brother. They had been arguing over whether Ryou would be able to cope walking around the arcade all morning, and it was starting to become rather tedious.

"You should be resting today," Bakura grumbled, glancing around so Ryou could see his serious expression.

"My injuries don't hurt anymore! And besides, another day of resting won't make a difference, it's our last day – don't make me miss out on it. Please," he begged, "let me go."

Bakura sighed, his brother really wasn't going to take no for an answer, was he? But he supposed if he wasn't in pain anymore, there was no harm in letting him go. "Just promise me you'll sit down if you need to."

Ryou expression lightened slightly, "I promise! Thank you 'Kura!"

All he received in reply was a 'hmpf' as they entered the breakfast room. As soon as the door shut with a soft _click_, two pairs of purple eyes snapped upwards, focusing on the two white haired brothers who had just entered.

"How are you feeling today, Ryou?" Marik asked as they sat down.

"Much better! The bruises still hurt a little bit, but not as much as they did yesterday," he replied honestly, earning a scowl from his brother.

"You said you weren't in pain," Bakura said sceptically, not trusting Ryou.

"The pain has subsided so much I can't feel it!" Ryou said quickly, but he wasn't convincing Bakura.

"Ryou, if you're in pain you need to-"

"NO! I'm not staying behind!" Ryou cut him off, earning shocked looks from everyone at the table for being so forceful.

"Well…okay then…" Bakura said rather meekly, too stunned by his brothers objection to fight back.

They started to eat their breakfasts in silence – none of them enjoying the quiet that was looming around them, but none of them doing anything about it.

This wasn't how Ryou wanted today to be. He wanted to enjoy his last day in England by laughing and having a good time with his friends, not by sitting in silence whilst they all secretly worried over his wellbeing.

"Honestly, I'll be alright…" Ryou said in a sheepishly quiet voice, glancing at his brother to check his reaction.

Bakura looked exasperated. He didn't want to argue with Ryou anymore about it, his brother shouldn't be going out if he was still in pain!

Ryou's expression fell even more when he saw how irritated Bakura looked. Now he didn't know what to do. He could either stay at the B and B and miss out on his final day in England but make Bakura happy, or go out and risk his brother being annoyed with him.

Seeing the conflicted expression on Ryou's face, Marik turned to glare at Bakura for being so insensitive. He knew that eventually Ryou would give into Bakura's demands of resting, even if doing so made him miserable.

Bakura caught Marik frowning at him out of the corner of his eye, and instantly felt a pang of guilt– although he didn't really know why. It wasn't as if he actually cared about whether Marik was mad at him… at least, he didn't think he did.

But now was not the time to start thinking about his 'feelings' for the Egyptian. It seemed he was in charge of the current situation – whatever he said, his brother would do.

One look at the pathetic expression on Ryou's face told him what he was going to say.

"Come on, hurry up and eat otherwise we'll miss the bus."

Ryou's face lit up with pure excitement, he really hadn't expected Bakura to let him go! He had the urge to hug his brother, but refrained from doing so. He knew such an outburst wouldn't make Bakura any happier, so he just made do with a grin, "Thank you so much!"

He saw Marik's expression soften, and a tiny smile threatened to pull on the corner of his lips, but he kept his expression neutral. What the hell was wrong with him today? Why was Marik affecting him in such a way?

He hadn't got a clue, but it was really starting to freak him out.

It didn't take them long to finish off their food, mainly because Ryou was practically bouncing from excitement and they didn't want to delay his last day in England any longer.

The coach ride seemed to last for hours to Ryou, when in fact it was only fifteen minutes at the most. They pulled up in front of street that had several arcades on it. All of them had the same sort of design – brick walls with huge windows that showed the various attractions inside. Above the windows were large gold letters on a red backdrop that had things such as 'FAMILY FUN' written across them, as well as the different names of the arcades.

The sight sent a warm feeling straight to Ryou's heart, as well as touch of sadness. He used to come here all the time with his mother. They came here the day before…it happened.

He shook the thoughts from his head; he wasn't going to let the memory ruin his day.

Once the teacher had given them the obligatory safety talk, Ryou had practically ran into the nearest building, the others following quickly behind him.

They found him standing in front of a 2p change machine, digging around in his pocket to find his wallet. He pulled out the brown leather pouch and took out a £10 note, going to insert it into the machine when Bakura's voice interrupted his actions.

"Isn't ten quid a little bit much?"

"I want to make sure I have enough! I can't leave a machine once I start to play; someone might take over where I left off and claim what's rightfully mine!" he said whilst inserting the note.

Bakura didn't comment on his actions, but instead said, "I'm going to shoot some zombies," before walking away. He had always preferred the more action packed games compared to his brother, who stuck to the 2p drop machines.

To his surprise he heard someone following him. Turning around, he saw Marik trailing behind him.

"Why are you following me?"

"Melvin and Ryou went to play on those slot machine things. Killing zombies sounds a lot more fun," Marik replied.

Bakura couldn't blame him, those bloody machines weren't only as boring as hell, but they were a waste of time. He had seen his brother pour an astonishing amount of money into those machines in hopes of winning 'the cute little key-ring hanging off the edge.' It all seemed pointless to him, why waste your money on something like a pathetic key-ring when you could be shooting things in a violent, gore filled frenzy? "Fair enough, I'll play you; loser has to buy the next game."

Marik smirked, "You're on! But I must warn you, I'm pretty good at these things."

Bakura gave a smirk of his own; this was going to be fun.

* * *

"Ryou, how do you play this?" Melvin asked as he approached one of the 2p slot machines. Ryou followed after him, his face lightening up as he saw the prize he could be win: a blue key-ring that had 'WHITBY' written across it in gold letters. Of course he was smart enough to know that he wouldn't end up getting the keychain, but he could always hope.

"It's really easy, all you do is place one of your coins into this slot," he pointed to the whole on top of the machine, "and watch to see if the sliders nudge it towards the other coins. If it does, the other coins will slide towards the edge, knocking some of the coins over and maybe even one of the prizes."

"That sounds really boring," Melvin said bluntly, staring at the machine with an uninterested expression.

"It's not! It's all about the timing, it's even better when you win something!" Ryou said, defending his favourite arcade game. It may not have been the most exciting, but in his eyes it was definitely the most rewarding. He pouted when Melvin gave him a disbelieving look, "Well do you have any better ideas?"

"Well…" Melvin said flashing him a grin. He put his arms either side of Ryou, trapping him against the game machine, "I do have something in mind…"

Ryou couldn't help the giggle that escaped his lips, before it was effectively muffled by Melvin's own. Ryou's hands found Melvin's chest, gripping onto the black fabric of his shirt as they kissed in plain sight for everyone to see.

The thought seemed to finally come to Ryou's mind. His eyes widened in alarm and he gave a soft push to the Egyptians muscular chest, "Melllviiiiin! We can't just start kissing in public…" he whined, all though it was half-heartedly. He did rather enjoy the kissing - just not where he risked his brother seeing!

"But it's never a good time to kiss you!" Melvin's bottom lip jutted out slightly, and Ryou had to resist the urge to laugh- it just looked so out of place on his face!

"I'm sorry…I just don't want Bakura to find out… I promise I'll make it up to you later," he said, looking the picture of innocence.

Melvin raised an eyebrow, obviously interpreting what Ryou had said in a far more perverted way.

Ryou seemed to catch onto what Melvin was thinking about, and his face turned bright red as images of him 'making it up to him later' flashed in his mind. "N-no! I-I didn't mean it like that!" he said frantically, getting more and more flustered as Melvin's smirk grew.

The Egyptian let out a low chuckle, before moving closer towards the ruffled Brits ear, letting his breath tickle the shell before whispering, "Don't worry my little creampuff, there will most definitely be more time for _that_ later."

An involuntary shiver ran down Ryou's spine. Melvin's closeness wasn't helping him calm down, if anything it was making him blush more!

Melvin seemed to catch onto the fact his boyfriend was far too distracted to push him away, and took full advantage. Giving the shell of his ear a swift lick, he moved to start trailing kisses from behind his ear, down to his neck, before starting to lick and nip at the soft skin.

Ryou let out a small moan, gripping the sides of the slot machine as he felt Melvin's hot lips trail down his bare flesh. It felt sinfully good- so good in fact, that he momentarily forgot where he was as his mind clouded over with lust.

He was, however, snapped back into reality when Melvin bit down slightly too hard. He blinked a few times, before his conscious mind grasped the situation. He was amazed at how quickly Melvin seemed to slip past his defences – it was actually sort of scary, but in an exciting way.

Before Melvin could give him another one of his ever so distracting kisses, he quickly moved out of the way, turning just enough so he could look the Egyptian straight in the eye. "Melvin," he said in a stern tone.

Melvin moved backwards, holding his hands in the air, smirk still on his face, "Alright, alright, I'm sorry, I'll stop."

Ryou smiled a little, he couldn't stay mad at Melvin for too long. Glancing from side to side, he quickly stepped forward to peck his boyfriend on the lips, before turning around to start playing the neglected machine.

Melvin blinked, slightly startled by Ryou's actions, before he smirked again. Even if his little creampuff wouldn't admit it, he knew Ryou couldn't keep his hands off him.

He would have made another move on Ryou, but the boy was already too entranced by the game. Melvin decided leaning on the side and watching the Brit play would have to do. For now, at least…

* * *

"So what game would you like to get your ass kicked in?" Bakura asked smugly, gesturing towards the selection of shooting games in front of them.

"I wouldn't look so smug if I were you," Marik said with a smirk of his own, glancing around the game titles before choosing a familiar sounding one called Silent Hill. "Let's play that one."

"Ahh," Bakura said as they walked over, "I don't think I've played this one before."

"Neither have I, but I've seen the movie," Marik replied as he inserted £1 into the machine and picked up his gun. Bakura did the same and the game began. Bakura tuned out during the background story, he never found them important enough to pay attention, he just wanted to get to the killing.

Finally the actual game started, and both the boys got into their 'shooting stance.'

"HOLD THE FRIG UP, WHY AM I A WOMAN?" Marik yelled as their characters were revealed, and he was indeed a woman.

Bakura couldn't help himself; he let out a loud laugh at Marik's unfortunate luck, before commenting, "Well, you are awfully effeminate."

"Hey, frig you! I look nothing like a woman!"

"Well…that's debateable."

Marik was about to argue back, when a zombie-dog clawed at his side of the screen. "AH! FUCK OFF!" he said whilst firing random shots at the dog. Once the dog finally died, Marik was disappointed to notice his life-bar had dropped down to almost half.

"I thought you said you were good at these games?" Bakura asked, looking even smugger than he had before.

"I am! That thing just took me by surprise!" Marik defended himself, turning back to the game – he wasn't going to be caught off guard again.

Their characters continued walking down a road, before turning into an abandoned hospital. Inside the hospital there were more zombie-dogs, as well as zombie-nurses.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Bakura asked as he shot what seemed to be the fiftieth nurse since they walked into the place, "how many bloody nurses work at this hospital?"

"Well it wouldn't be a very good game if we were only attacked by a few zombies, Bakura," Marik replied in a smart-ass sort of way.

Bakura grumbled in reply as they walked around a corner, the screen suddenly going dark. It was so obvious that there was going to be a bunch of zombies in here, that it was actually disappointing.

It seemed however that Marik wasn't expecting it, because when the lights turned on, he let out the loudest scream Bakura had ever heard, whilst frantically scrambling around with his gun.

By the time he had managed to start shooting, there were too many zombies attacking him, and his life bar fell down to zero.

A large grin spread across Bakura's face as Marik's expression turned into a very un-amused one.

"This game is stupid," he said childishly. Because Bakura wasn't dead, he had the option to continue the game, but decided not to – it wouldn't have been as fun without Marik to tease.

…Although, he didn't quite know why.

"What game do you want me to beat you in now? It's only fair you choose, you're paying for it after all," Bakura said, his face shinning with arrogance.

Marik scanned the room, looking for a something he knew he would beat Bakura in.

It was then he spotted the perfect game.

"Let's play that one!" Marik said, pointing over in the direction of the game.

Bakura's smug expression quickly faded as he saw what the Egyptian had chosen. Out of all the game in the world, why did this arcade have to have a motorcycle riding one? It even had seats shaped like motorcycles to sit on!

Marik watched as Bakura's face fell, "What's wrong Bakura? Losing your confidence?"

Bakura glanced over towards the Egyptian, before forcing a smirk on his face, "Don't you worry, I'll beat you so badly you'll be begging me for mercy!"

"Hmpf, we'll see about that!" Marik said confidently, striding towards the motorcycles in his usual sassy way.

Bakura followed after, determination on his mind. He wasn't going to lose to Marik, his pride wouldn't allow it.

* * *

"MELVIN!" Ryou shouted.

"Wha…? What's wrong?" Melvin asked.

"I won!" Ryou beamed, practically bouncing up and down on the spot, waving something around in his hand.

"You won? Won what?" Melvin questioned, slightly confused,

"The keychain! It took a while…but I did it!"

"Oh…well done?" Melvin said, trying to figure out what was so exciting about a keychain, and failing.

It didn't seem to deter Ryou's good mood though, he continued to grin as if he'd just won the lottery. "I need to tell Bakura! He always said those machines were a waste of money!" Before Melvin could say anything, the white haired boy had run off in search of his brother.

* * *

"Oh stop whining Bakura! I beat you fair and square!" Marik huffed, folding his arms across his chest as he stood in front of a very annoyed looking Bakura.

"That game was fixed! There was no way you beat me!" Bakura argued back.

"Don't be a prick just because I can ride better than you!"

"Who was riding who?" Melvin asked as he and Ryou walked up towards them, looking questioningly at his brother and Bakura.

"W-what?" Marik asked looking completely confused, before it seemed to click in his head. "Melvin! What the frig! Nobody was 'riding' anybody!" he yelled at his brother, turning almost as red as Ryou had earlier.

Melvin sniggered, "If they weren't, why do you look so flustered?"

Marik's blush darkened at the implications, unable to make any words come out of his mouth.

Ryou gave Melvin a 'stop tormenting your brother' look, before turning to his own brother and shoving the key-ring in his face proudly. "See Bakura? I told you those machines weren't a waste of time!"

Bakura picked up the keychain and examined it, "Oh yes, because this is so worth wasting all your money on, isn't it?" He tossed the key-ring back to his brother, before turning back to Marik. "I want a re-match, now," he demanded.

"Bakura face it, I'm just better at videogames than you!"

Bakura growled before grabbing Marik's wrist and dragging him over to a driving game.

Ryou noticed Marik's face heat up again from Bakura's touch, and became even more suspicious. He had a theory Marik had a thing for his brother, but the way he was acting made it all the more evident. He made a silent agreement with himself that he would watch the both of them more closely, before he and Melvin followed after the two, and watched as they broke into a full scale gaming contest. They played whack-a-mole, air hockey, table football, and some more shooting games.

To everyone's surprise, Marik won.

"Well I'll be damned," Bakura said with a stunned expression, "Marik you're…actually a better player than me."

Marik genuinely smiled at the compliment, before remembering he was supposed to be smug, "Well, I did tell you, didn't I?"

Bakura had the very childish urge to stick his tongue out, but refrained from doing so. Instead, he decided to check his watch for lack of anything better to do.

"What time is it 'Kura?" Ryou asked.

"Almost half four, we need to go back to the coach."

Ryou's face fell, it was that time already?! It hadn't even felt like five minutes had passed! "Oh…okay…"

Once they were back on the coach, Ryou watched as the town passed by the window, trying to take in every single detail before he left. He was sad that they were leaving in the morning, but he also felt happy. He had some amazing memories to take back home, his new relationship with Melvin being the best of them all. A smile grew on his face, he didn't need to be sad, he always had his memories, and he could always return again one day in the future.

However, his face fell slightly as he remembered how much packing he had to do. Maybe he could persuade Bakura to help him by using his injuries as an excuse…

* * *

**A/N: What a crafty excuse Ryou! **

**And yes my lovely readers, I'm sad to say that this is our last day in Whitby, I hope you enjoyed it! **


	18. Caught In The Act

**A/N: Heeey guys! Just a little quick warning that there is a teeny tiny lime in this chapter. I know this fic is rated M, but I just thought I should tell you anyway! (If I'm honest, I'm not too sure if it even qualifies as lime but meh...better to be safe than sorry)**

* * *

The mobile phone on Ryou's bedside table suddenly lit up, before vibrating and blaring out an increasingly annoying sound, telling the boys it was time to wake up. Ryou reached out groggily and made a blind grab for the device. After several failed attempts, he felt the metal in his hand, and pulled it from the table to turn it off. The blinding light from the screen made him wince and look away from the pain it caused his tired eyes, before he forced himself to turn the contraption off – the noise was unbearable!

He heard his brother groan on the other side of the room, obviously awoken by the alarm.

Ryou sighed as he took a quick glance at the time. It was 5:00am, and it was still pitch black outside. The site outside the window was rather depressing, and the fact it was freezing in their room didn't help to lighten the mood - Ryou had to muster together all the will-power he had to drag himself away from the warmth of his sheets.

Their room was almost as dark as it was outside, meaning he had to scramble around in the shadows to find the light switch. Once he was certain he had located it, he switched it on, and was once again greeted with the mess that was their room.

Ryou let out a groan; they had a lot of work to do this morning before they left.

The previous night, the brothers had decided to pack in the morning before they left, because for some reason they had thought it would be easier.

Now Ryou was left staring at the mess he was certain wasn't there before in disbelief, he wasn't going to be able to pack this by himself and get ready by 6:30!

With one last glance at the piles of clothes on the floor, he decided the only thing they could do was to tackle the situation as quickly as possible.

"Kura?" he called, "get up, we need to start packing."

"You start, I'll be with you in a second," Bakura mumbled, turning around so his pillow blocked the light from his eyes.

Ryou sighed for the second time that morning; he wasn't going to get this done if his brother didn't help him. "Bakura please wake up!"

All he got in reply was a grunt. It was obvious Bakura was beginning to fall asleep.

Ryou frowned. All thoughts of being considerate left his mind as he marched over to Bakura's bed, and ripped the covers off of his brother

Bakura hissed much like an angry cat as the air hit his exposed chest, shocking his system awake. He glared at his brother who was now holding his bed sheet innocently in his hands, looking up at him with big, guiltless chocolate eyes.

"Now that you're up, let's get packing!" he smiled sweetly at his brother, which only increased Bakura's annoyance. He shot daggers at Ryou, but they weren't seen as his brother had already turned around to begin sorting through the mess.

Begrudgingly he stood up, and the two white haired twins managed to get ready and have the packing done just before six.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Ryou said as he brushed his hair.

"It's still bloody ridiculous, why do we even have to leave this early? Stupid teachers."

"Our teacher doesn't control when the plane leaves, Bakura," Ryou replied exasperatedly.

Bakura huffed, "Whatever, I'm going down for breakfast. Are you coming?"

Ryou continued pulling the brush down his hair, giving a slight tug when it got caught in a particularly painful knot, "Not yet, I'll be down once I've done this." He gestured to his hair, and Bakura nodded before making his way out of the room.

Ryou watched his brother leave before turning back to the mirror. His eyes looked over his head of thick, tangled locks with annoyance. This was one of the disadvantages of having long hair – it always took an exceptionally long time to make it presentable. Bakura never really bothered with his hair like Ryou did. Instead of thoroughly brushing it in the morning, he would run the brush through it a bit to release some of the knots, before getting bored and giving up.

Sometimes Ryou considered following in his brothers footsteps, but decided against it. Having that many tangles in his hair all day would drive him absolutely bonkers!

Other times, he thought about just cutting his hair down to a normal length. It would certainly save him time, and a lot of money regarding hair care products.

Once the tedious task was finished, Ryou did something he did ceremoniously every morning – he ran his hands down his now fluffy, silky mane. Doing this reminded him why he loved his hair so much, and he quickly discarded any thoughts of cutting it all off.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts and actions, that he didn't notice the door opening, nor did he realise there was a head of spiky blond hair sneaking towards him.

He finally turned away from the mirror to place the hairbrush in the bag on his bed. He zipped the bag shut, just as a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him against a muscular chest. Ryou squeaked when he felt a chin rest against his shoulder.

"Morning creampuff," a deep, husky voice rang in his ear.

Ryou somehow managed to turn around in the strong embrace so that he was face to face with a grinning Melvin. "Don't just sneak up on me like that!" he pouted.

"Oh I'm _ever_ so sorry Ryou," he smirked, not looking sorry at all, "how about I make it up to you, hmm?" He started to lean in closer, but Ryou moved away playfully.

"Melvin it is far too early to be doing such things!" he said whilst trying to hold back his laughter from the disgruntled look on Melvin's face.

"Well I'm sorry to have to say this creampuff but… I'm far too horny to care."

Ryou's eyes widened in surprise as Melvin catapulted himself onto him, holding down his arms and pinning him on the bed. Those luscious lips came at him once more, but this time Ryou didn't move away, and instead allow their lips to move together.

Once he was satisfied Ryou wasn't going to attempt a getaway, he lifted them into a more comfortable position. Melvin now sat on the bed with Ryou on his lap, the white haired boy's legs either side of his hips and his arms draped around his neck. Melvin moved to deepen the kiss, and Ryou didn't stop him. He greeted the tongue in his mouth with his own, and a ferocious battle started to commence.

It surprised Melvin just how forceful Ryou could be in these situations. The boy was so shy and innocent; it was really a shock to see how active he became when things turned heated. It was a side to his creampuff Melvin could certainly get used to.

He started to snake his hands underneath Ryou's shirt, drawing small circles into his back. Ryou let out a tiny moan, and involuntarily bucked his hips against Melvin. The action caused the Egyptian to moan as well as they started to grind against each other.

Yes, Melvin could certainly get used to this.

* * *

Marik sat on his bed, glancing up at the clock. His brother had left to borrow some toilet paper from Ryou ages ago, what was taking him so long?

Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he head over to the British twins room.

He thought about knocking on the door, but decided that would be too formal, and instead just barged in.

The door opened with a soft click, and before he could get any words out of his mouth, he froze in shock, eyes going wide.

From this angle the sight seemed completely innocent, but Marik knew better – the moaning was a giveaway, after all.

With a smirk he decided to leave Melvin and Ryou to it. As curious as he was, he didn't want to intrude. He could always question his brother later.

He backtracked out of the room slowly, quietly closing the door on his way out. He turned around and started to walk into his own room to finish off the packing.

But unfortunately, his journey was cut short by a certain white haired British boy.

Marik's eyes grew wide again. "B-Bakura!"

Said male raised an eyebrow, "Marik, what were you doing in my room?"

"I…was…um…" What could he say? It was pretty obvious to figure out Bakura's views on Ryou and Melvin being in a relationship. If he told him what he'd just witnessed, Bakura would go crazy!

"You were…?" Bakura prompted.

He let out a nervous laugh, "Well…you see…that's a funny story."

"I'm waiting," Bakura said impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor.

Marik ran a hand through his hair, "Um…" He needed to think of something quickly, but his brain was drawing a blank.

Bakura gave a frustrated sigh, "Forget it! I don't have time for this; I need to find out what's taking Ryou so long."

Marik suddenly filled with panic – Bakura couldn't go in there! "NO! STOP!"

"Marik what the hell is wrong with you today?" Bakura asked, obviously frustrated.

"Nothing…just…you can't go in there!"

"And why not?"

"Because…there's…rats! Yes, that's what it is!"

"Rats?" Bakura asked disbelievingly.

"Er…yeah! Tons of them! It really stinks in there, best not to go in," Marik said, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Marik stop being stupid, I'm going in," Bakura said whilst pushing the Egyptian to walk through the door.

In a last act of panic, Marik flung himself at Bakura, throwing his arms around his neck and wrapping his legs around his waist.

"What the fuck Marik? Get off!" Bakura yelled.

"Heh…sorry about that…" Marik said embarrassedly whilst sliding down to the ground. Out of all the things he could have done, why did he decide do to that?

"What did you do that for?" Bakura asked, mirroring Marik's thoughts.

Oh great, now he had to think of another excuse. "I was…urm…giving you a hug because…that's what friends do, right?"

"Urm…right…can I please just go into my room now?" Bakura said, looking more confused than anything.

Marik sighed, but nodded. There was nothing else he could do without seeming even more suspicious. He just hoped Melvin and Ryou had heard the commotion that was going on and had the sense to stop.

* * *

_"NO! STOP!"_

Ryou detached himself from Melvin's lips as he heard a loud shout that sounded an awful lot like Marik coming from the hallway.

"What's up creampuff?" Melvin asked, looking concerned – had he done something wrong?

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"One second."

"Ryou what's going on-"

"Melvin, please be quiet for a second," Ryou whispered as he listened carefully. His eyes widened as he realised that Marik and Bakura were right outside.

"Oh crap! Bakura's going to come in! He's probably checking on me to find out what's taking so long!"

Melvin's eyes widened in understanding, "What should I do?"

"Urm…go and hide…in the bathroom!" Ryou said quickly, trying his best to straighten himself out.

"What if he was goes in there?"

"Make up an excuse!" The door knob started to turn, signalling Bakura's entrance. "Go! Quickly!"

Melvin didn't need to be told again as he bolted for the bathroom, closing the door as quietly as he could.

Ryou sat on the bed and took a deep breath, opening the bag to make it look like he was doing something when Bakura stepped in.

"Ryou? What's taking you so long?"

"Oh hi Bakura!" Ryou said with a smile, "I was just coming down now!"

"I thought you said you were brushing your hair?" Bakura said whilst looking sceptically at his brother.

Ryou looked at Bakura questioningly, before glancing into the mirror. His hair was even messier than when his brother left, thanks to a pair of tanned Egyptian hands. Ryou had to try his hardest to supress the blush that was creeping onto his face; he didn't want to look even more suspicious.

"O-oh, you see…w-when I'd finished with the brush…it fell underneath the bed so I had to get it…I guess my hair got messed up in the process," Ryou lied. It wasn't the best lie in the world, but he hoped it was believable enough for Bakura.

"Let me get this straight… you dropped your hairbrush, it rolled underneath the bed, and you've been underneath there this whole time trying to retrieve it?"

"…Yeah, that's what happened," Ryou said as innocently as possible. Bakura still didn't look convinced.

"Did you get stuck under there or something?"

"N-no…I just… I couldn't find it, but I have it now, so it's okay!" He beamed at his brother as best as he could.

Bakura still wasn't convinced, but he dropped the subject, "Well…okay, just hurry up and brush your hair."

Ryou smiled weakly and gave a silent sigh of relief – he didn't actually think that would work!

He brushed his hair as quickly as he could so that they could head down to dinner, and so Melvin could leave the bathroom as soon as possible. Ryou made an agreement with himself that they needed a new plan if they were going to be together. What that plan was, he had no idea. All he knew was that if they continued the way they were, they'd get caught very soon. He didn't want Bakura to find out that way, he wanted to break the news to his brother gently; otherwise hell would break loose.

They ate quickly, and they were soon on their way to the airport. Ryou twiddled the keychain he had won yesterday in between his fingers throughout the whole journey. He looked out of the window with the tiniest of smiles on his face – the sun was starting to rise, painting the sky a sweet golden hue, as the birds started to wake up, serenading them with their cheerful song as they drove away. He was going to miss this place an awful lot, but he was determined to stay strong. The last thing he needed was his brother ridiculing him for blubbering like a baby.

Once they were finally on the plane, almost the whole class had passed out from exhaustion – even the teacher looked like she was about to doze off.

Ryou didn't wake up until they started to land, and the he really wasn't in the mood to tackle the airport.

Once they had finally retrieved their suitcases, they returned to their school on another couch. From then onwards the students had to make their own way home. The Ishtar's offered to drive Ryou and Bakura home, and they gladly accepted.

Once they had dropped the British twins off, Marik decided now would be a good time to question his brother about what he saw earlier.

"So Melvin…you and Ryou seem to be getting along well."

"Yes, we're getting on okay, why?" Melvin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh you know, just an observation. Tell me Melvin; is he as shy and polite in the sack as he is around people?" Marik asked slyly with a smirk.

Melvin narrowed his eyes, "What makes you ask that, _dear brother_?"

"Oh nothing much really," Marik said with a wave of his hand, "I just wanted to know, seeing as he was letting you suck his face off at 6am this morning."

Melvin's eyes grew wide, before they narrowed into dangerous slits again. "Don't you fucking dare tell anybody!" he ground out through clenched teeth.

"Of course I won't! I'm not an idiot you know, I know what will happen if Bakura finds out. I don't want to lose my brother just yet," he said with a wink.

"You really think Bakura can beat me in a fight?" Melvin snorted.

"Well yeah…I mean he's skinnier than you, he'd be able to dodge your attacks." Marik shrugged.

Melvin snorted, "Please, I could kick his sorry ass in a fight anytime!"

Marik shook his head, "Of course you can Melvin."

"I know you're trying to stick up for your boyfriend Marik, but-" Melvin was cut off Marik started speaking.

"He isn't my boyfriend!"

"But you want him to be, right?" Melvin said just as slyly as his brother had been earlier.

"W-what? No! Of course not you friggin idiot!"

"Don't treat me like an idiot Marik; I've seen the way you look at him when you think no one is looking, you have a crush on Bakura." He said matter-of-factly.

Marik was silent for a moment. He didn't really know what to say. He had been trying to figure out his own feelings for a while now…was it really that obvious?

"I'll take your silence for a yes." Melvin smirked at his brother's discomfort.

"Oh shut up!" Marik yelled, and Melvin couldn't supress his bellowing laughter.

* * *

Ryou unlocked the door to his and Bakura's house, and plopped down on the couch with a sigh. It felt so nice to be home after travelling for so long. Bakura took his brothers lead and crashed down next to Ryou whilst running a hand through his hair.

Everybody had been acting so bloody weird today and it was started to freak him out a little. First Marik with his spontaneous jump attacks, and then Ryou and his obvious lying – what had been so bad that he had to lie anyway? The fact that Melvin had been the only person acting relatively normal did nothing for his nerves either, if anything it made him even more suspicious something was going on.

He let out a sigh; he was too tired to interrogate his brother now. If things continued to be this strange, he promised himself he'd get to the bottom of things. Right now all he wanted to do was unpack and sleep. They had school the next morning, and he was really not looking forward to it.

* * *

**A/N: I hope that answers any questions as to whether Marik has a crush on Bakura :3**

**Yaaaay! They're finally home!**

**Just thought I would let you guys know that over the next few chapters there will be quite a bit of drama, and a lemon! So now you have something to look forward to :D**

**See you next week!**


	19. Surprise!

**A/N: Sorry that this is slightly later than usual, I've had so much stuff to do it's been unreal! This chapter is shorter than the others, but next weeks should be longer to make up for it.**

**Enjoy. :)**

* * *

The next few months passed without much fuss, and the Christmas season was fast approaching. The temperature in the air had dropped drastically, and there was now a thin layer of frost coating the ground. The transition seemed to have happened overnight. Nobody had expected such bad weather so early on, but now it was here and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it apart from to endure it. It was obvious that the frosty atmosphere wasn't leaving anytime soon, and that they would be greeted with snow very soon – but Ryou tried not to think about it. He usually wasn't one to complain, but he absolutely despised this weather. It would be okay if he were at home, with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, but instead he had to drag himself to school in this miserable weather and pray to God that no one would throw snowballs at him – or worse, iceballs.

He glanced out of the window briefly, and let out a small sigh as he saw that the weather had not improved at all. He didn't want to have to face trekking through the thick sheets of ice that layered the ground. He knew he would slip and he would much rather be saved the embarrassment. It would be much easier if he could just take the day off, but he was far too honest to do such a thing. If he did lie, he would be consumed but an awful amount of guilt and end up ringing the school to apologise. Besides, he had a reason to go into school; he still wanted to see his boyfriend.

Ryou smiled as he thought about Melvin. It still felt a tad weird calling him his boyfriend, but he knew he would get used to it in time. Their relationship so far had been absolutely wonderful; they had so much fun together! Bakura had finally stopped trying to find out what was going on a while ago, which made Ryou immensely happy. When they arrived back from England, his brother didn't give up his suspicions for a few weeks, which had stressed Ryou out to no end. Bakura would watch his every move, making sure he knew where he was going, what he was doing, and who he was doing it with. It made Bakura seem like a stalker, but Ryou could understand why he was doing it. After the incident, Bakura had become rather protective over Ryou despite being the younger twin. The thought of anything bad happening to Ryou frightened him (even if he wouldn't admit it), so when anything suspicious happened, he would go to any length to make sure Ryou was okay. Unfortunately, this meant Ryou had to devise a new plan for him and Melvin to remain a secret, and rather hastily. Luckily, Ryou was a lot sneakier than most gave him credit for, and he came up with an idea that would tide them over until he had to tell Bakura.

Instead of Melvin sneaking up on him and snogging his face off at random times during the day, they would sneak off to different places once a week to spend time together. Ryou would tell Bakura he was going out for a walk, and then meet up with Melvin at the shops down the road. From there they would choose where they would spend the rest of the afternoon. Ryou's personal favourite was the time they went bowling. It still baffled him how someone so strong, could be so terrible at bowling.

* * *

"_Are you ready to lose creampuff?" Melvin taunted as he held up his bowling ball._

"_I'm not worried," Ryou said playfully, causing Melvin to frown._

"_Well you should be, because I'm actually going to knock them down this time!" he said confidently, flexing his arm muscles as he moved towards the lane._

"_Melvin, you've only managed to knock down 9 pins this entire game and this is the last round, I really don't think you're going to win."_

"_Don't doubt my skills, Ryou," Melvin said seriously, and Ryou pretended to zip his mouth shut._

_He held the ball down by his side, looking out at the pins with immense concentration, trying to figure out a strategy. Whenever he threw the ball as hard as he could, it literally bounced into the gutter, and when he tried to throw it normally his aim was off, ending in another gutter-ball. So he thought about trying a new tactic: roll the ball as gently as possible and hope for the best. _

_He pulled his arm back, before swinging forwards with as little force as he could and letting go of the ball. It crept down the lane at a soft pace, but it was managing to stay in a straight line. Melvin turned around to flash Ryou a cocky grin, but quickly resumed watching the ball when he saw Ryou face-palm._

_His jaw dropped as he saw the ball veering off towards the right side of the lane, before dropping down into the gutter._

"_WHY DOES IT KEEP DOING THAT?" Melvin yelled, and Ryou had to fight to hold in his laughter. _

"_Don't worry Melvin, you were just having a bad game!" he said sympathetically, patting Melvin on the back._

"_There's something wrong with that lane! Next time we come I'm kicking your ass, I swear!" he said rather childishly, wrapping his arm around Ryou's shoulder as they walked out of the bowling alley._

_Ryou decided not to point out the fact that he was managing to play just fine, and instead leaned into Melvin's chest. They received a few disgusted looks, but he didn't let them bother him. He was past caring about homophobes; all that mattered now was that he and Melvin were together. _

* * *

Ryou smiled at the warm memories. It was amazing how close they had become in such a short space of time, it left Ryou wondering how he ever coped without Melvin. But there was one thing that kept eating away at him – he had to tell Bakura. It wasn't fair to keep his brother in the dark like this, especially for this long. He knew the longer he left it, the worse his brother would react in the end, but he had no idea how to break the news to him! He couldn't just run up to him, say that he and Melvin had been in a relationship for a few months and go away. He would have to think of a strategic way to tackle this. He had spent countless hours trying to think of a solution, but he never seemed to have any luck. This really shouldn't be so hard, all he had to do was tell his brother he was in a relationship – but things were never that easy.

He didn't want to spend too much time dwelling on it this morning though, he had other problems to deal with at this current moment in time. He took one last glance outside, before mentally bracing himself for the cold weather. It wouldn't be that bad if he wrapped up warm enough and if he took extra caution around those particularly icy bits. He walked over to his wardrobe and took out the clothes he kept especially for situations such as this.

* * *

Bakura sat at the kitchen table drinking a steaming hot cup of tea. He was beginning to wonder what was taking his brother so long. Normally it was him who took longer in the mornings, mainly due to the face he slept for at least fifteen minutes more than he should. Ryou was always the first downstairs, usually with breakfast ready and waiting on the table for them both, so the fact he was alone in the kitchen was worrying.

Finally he heard the soft thud of footsteps approaching. He stood up from the table and head over to the side counter, waiting to interrogate his brother about why he was so late.

"Well finally! What took you so blo—what the bloody hell are you wearing?" Bakura asked, looking up and down at his brother's ridiculous choice of clothing.

"What's wrong with it?" Ryou said, looking at his own outfit which consisted of a huge puffy silver coat with a black fluffy scarf, gloves, and hat.

"You look like a penguin," Bakura said blankly. "It isn't that cold outside."

"I'm just making sure I stay warm!" Ryou defended.

"You're seriously wearing that to school?"

"Of course, why else would I have it on?"

Bakura gave him a disbelieving look.

"Come on 'Kura, otherwise we'll be late!"

Bakura shook his head, if Ryou wanted to make a fool out of himself, he would let him.

Once they stepped out of the door, they were both hit with the full force of the cold. Ryou pulled his coat tighter across his body, trying to snuggle into the warmth as much as possible. He stepped out of the house with caution, walking across the pavement slowly and steadily. Bakura rolled his eyes at his brother and strode out of the door, not seeming the least bit bothered by the bitter weather. However, they were both glad when the bus finally came.

They paid their money and took their usual seats in front of Marik and Melvin. Ryou immediately took his gloves off and started rubbing his hands together, trying desperately to generate some extra heat.

Marik sat forward in his seat so that he was next to Bakura's ear, before asking, "Is there any particular reason he's dressed like a penguin?"

Bakura smirked at the comment; he turned around so he was facing Marik and whispered, "You know, I said the exact same thing this morning."

"Awww, look Ryou! They're whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. How cute," Melvin said with a sly grin, causing Ryou to laugh a little. Soon after they had returned from England, Ryou told Melvin he thought their brothers had a crush on each other. Of course, Melvin didn't hesitate to use this to his advantage, and made fun of them both with every opportunity he had.

"Oh piss off Melvin!" Bakura grumbled, shooting daggers at the Egyptian.

"It's not my fault you two are so obviously in love _Baku_," Melvin said, purposely making his voice higher to imitate Marik on Bakura's nickname.

"We're not _in love_, you twat," Bakura spat back.

"Why are you getting so defensive about it then?" Melvin said cockily.

"I'm not getting defensive!"

"I think you are."

"Melvin, maybe you should drop it now," Ryou spoke up; he didn't want a fight to break out between his brother and his boyfriend.

"But Ryou," Melvin started, but once he saw the pleading look on his creampuffs face, he couldn't argue, "fine."

Bakura watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow, but didn't comment. If he did it would just give Melvin another chance to comment on his relationship with Marik- which he was still extremely confused about. He still didn't know why he felt so close to the Egyptian all of a sudden. It was strange; the only other persons company he enjoyed was Ryou's, but it was different around Marik. The way he felt around Marik was different compared to Ryou, but he enjoyed being with them both. He would try speaking to his brother about it, but he knew that if he did ask, Ryou would start spouting crap about him having some sort of crush on Marik – which was the biggest pile of bollocks he had ever heard. Of course he didn't have a crush on Marik! He had far too much pride to be affected by such petty feelings.

"Are you coming, Baku'?" Marik said whilst smiling down at Bakura, his lavender eyes wide and glistening in the light.

There it was again, that strange, unfamiliar sensation he got whenever Marik looked at him – what was wrong with him?

"Bakura?" Marik waved a hand in front of Bakura's face, trying to grab his attention.

"Hmm?"

"Are you planning on getting off the bus?"

"What?" Bakura glanced around and saw that they were the only two people left apart from the driver, "oh right, yes I'm coming now."

The rest of the school day passed like it always did – extremely boringly. Everyone was thankful when the final bell rang, and quickly charged out of the doors to get to their buses.

Ryou was especially glad to get home; the ice on the ground was making him paranoid he was going to slip over. He just wanted to go into his nice, warm, cosy room and study.

Ryou didn't hesitate to unlock the door as soon as they arrived home, and practically ran through the door.

Once he was inside the warmth of the kitchen, he took two mugs out of the cupboard and grabbed the hot chocolate. He knew his brother would want a cup, but he thought he better ask just in case. "Hey 'Kura, do you want some hot chocolate?"

"Yeah sure, I'll be in th-" His words were cut off abruptly, intriguing Ryou.

"'Kura? What's wrong?"

No answer.

He knew his brother would never just ignore him without reason, so he started to get worried. He put the mugs down on the counter, and made his way into the lounge.

"Bakura? What's wro-" His words were also cut off as he looked at the scene in front of him. In the doorway stood his brother, seemingly frozen in shock and on the couch was an older man with short white hair and bright green eyes. He turned his head as if he had only just noticed the boys' presence, and a grin broke out across his face – but he made no move to stand up.

Ryou swallowed and let his tongue flicker out to wet his dry lips. He didn't want to be the first to break the silence, but he could tell nobody else was going to bother. He blinked a few times just to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and when he deemed that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, he let a small smile appear on his face.

"Hello, father."

* * *

**A/N: DADDY BAKURA IS HOME! But the question is - why is he home? And how is he going to affect the plot? FIND OUT SOON!**


	20. What Are YOU Doing Here?

**A/N: I know I said this chapter would be longer, but I had to cut it in half because it ended up getting too long. The next chapter will definitely be longer, it will probably be one of the longest in the entire fic. This chapter sheds some light onto why Ryou and Bakura's father is here, so I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

"_Hello, father."_

"Good afternoon Ryou, Florence," their father said, smiling brightly at his sons.

"I don't mean to sound rude…but…"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Bakura interrupted in a less than polite manner.

Ryou looked at his brother in shock. Why was he being so rude to their father? Shouldn't he be happy that he had made time to come and visit?

Their father let out a small chuckle. "Ahh Florence, I still see you have that brilliant sense of humour!"

"Don't call me Florence; you know how much I hate that stupid name. And answer my question, why are you here?" Bakura replied with no amusement in his voice

"I came to visit my boys at Christmas, of course!" the older man said, his smile never faltering.

"Christmas isn't for a few weeks, and you've never visited us for the holidays before. I'll ask again, why are you here?"

"Bakura! Don't be so rude to our dad!" Ryou pleaded. He couldn't believe how his brother was acting!

"It's okay Ryou, he's just curious. The truth is the dig in Egypt got cut short so I was allowed to come home early."

Bakura still didn't believe their father, it was written all over his face. "Ryou, can I speak to you outside?"

"Oh, um, sure?" Ryou said uncertainly, following his brother out of the lounge and into the hallway.

"He needs to leave," Bakura stated once they were out of earshot.

"Why?"

"I don't trust him!"

"Bakura, he's our father!"

"I don't care! I have a feeling he's up to something!"

"What could he possibly be up to?"

"I don't know yet, but what I do know is that nothing good will come from him staying here."

"Don't be silly! Like I said, he's our father; he won't do anything bad to us! If anything we should be happy he's here in the first place," Ryou said in their fathers defence. He didn't understand Bakura's problem, he was ecstatic their dad was here!

"But he must want something from us; why else would he be here?"

"He told us earlier that his dig was cut short."

"And you believe him?"

"Of course I do! I don't have a reason not to."

"But doesn't it seem a bit weird to you that he just randomly turns up after months without telling us first, and expects us to be okay with it?"

"Is everything okay boys?" their father asked, moving from the couch for the first time to peer through the doorway at his two sons.

"Everything is fine dad!" Ryou said with a smile, walking away from Bakura. "I was just about to make some hot chocolate if you would like some?"

"That sounds like a brilliant idea! With a few biscuits on the side perhaps?" He smiled back, ruffling Ryou's hair.

Ryou turned to face his brother, "Would you like some hot chocolate too?"

"Sure," Bakura asked, never taking his gaze from his father's face. He didn't trust the man as far as he could throw him. He abandoned both of his sons as soon as he could, and used his work as a cover up. Ryou believed him, and he honestly thought that his father cared about them, but Bakura knew better. He wasn't as naïve as his brother, and he could tell when something wasn't quite right. His father's story gave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach – he knew he was up to something, and he was going to find out what before he took advantage of his brothers hospitality.

* * *

Their father had been staying at their house for a week now. He had slept on the couch for the first few days, but after complaining about how much pain it caused his back, Ryou had given up his bed to him – much to Bakura's annoyance. He still hadn't found out what his father was planning on doing, but that didn't discourage him. He knew by the way he treated Ryou that his visit here wasn't innocent.

He ordered him around as if Ryou was his slave. The poor boy would only be able to sit down for five minutes, before his father was barking orders at him to either make him something to eat, or to rub his back because his pains had come back. And of course, Ryou fell for the helpless old man act, doing everything his father asked without question.

Bakura had taken his brother aside on multiple occasions to talk to him about it, but each time Ryou would brush him aside, saying he was being paranoid and that he should just be thankful their father was with them. No matter what he said, Ryou would not be convinced.

"Ryou my boy, could you fetch me some water before you head out to school?" their father said, once again barking his orders at Ryou without so much as a please.

"Of course father!" Ryou replied happily, not noticing their father's lack of manners. He knew if they didn't leave now, they would most likely miss their bus, but he still insisted on making Ryou do the things he could easily do for himself – if he got off his lazy ass, which he seemed reluctant to do.

Ryou rushed past Bakura and up the stairs with a glass of water in his hand. As Bakura waited for his brothers return, he wondered to himself how long this crap was going to last. Their father hadn't mentioned how long he would be staying, which only fed Bakura's suspicions that he was up to something. All he could do was hope that they would be rid of him soon.

When Ryou eventually came back downstairs, they both practically ran to the bus stop and much to their surprise made it just as the bus arrived.

"Hey," Marik said as they approached and sat down in their usual seats.

"Good morning!" Ryou smiled at him, but Bakura only grunted at him in acknowledgement. "How's your morning been so far?"

"Alright, except _someone_ took too friggin' long in the shower and used all the hot water!" Marik said with a pointed glare at Melvin.

"Oh I'm sorry, did lil' Marik not get enough time to pamper himself for his _Baku_?" He smirked.

"Will you shut up about that stuff? It's getting so old," Marik said with disinterest, pretending to examine his nails.

"Really? Because I still find it entertaining," Melvin retorted.

"That's probably because you have a brain the size of a pea."

"Now no need to get bitchy Marik!"

"You started it!" Marik said childishly, raising his voice slightly.

"No, you started it!" Melvin replied just as immaturely.

"How the frig did I start this?"

"By being so obviously in love with Bakura."

Marik's eye twitched, his brother knew he had a small, teeny tiny crush on Bakura; he was bringing this up on purpose! Well, two could play at this game! Marik knew some secrets about his brother too – secrets that involved a certain white haired British boy. "Oh yeah, well-"

"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?" Bakura yelled, causing the other three to jump.

"Jheez…Who crapped in his cornflakes?" Marik asked Ryou, still startled by the sudden outburst.

"Oh, I don't really know…"

This only irked Bakura further. "You don't know? You really don't know why I'm so pissed?"

"No…" Ryou said sheepishly.

It was then Marik twigged onto what was happening. If Bakura thought Ryou should know, it had to be something that was going on at home, and he remembered Bakura mentioning that their father was visiting – so that must be why he was pissed off. "Bakura?"

"What?" Bakura snapped, turning around to face Marik.

"Is it your dad?"

Bakura's glare faltered for a second, before it turned into a smirk. "Well done Marik, looks like you're not just a pretty face after all."

Marik felt his cheeks heat up; did Bakura really just say that? He had to have imagined that last part! But no…Bakura was still sat in front of him with that Ra-damned smirk plastered across his face. He knew Melvin would tease him for this, but luckily Ryou started talking at that moment, saving him from a surely very embarrassing conversation.

"You're really upset father is here, aren't you? Why?"

"I've explained my reasons to you many times," Bakura said to his brother.

"I-I just don't understand…" Ryou said quietly. He didn't want Bakura to hate their father, but it looked like that was the direction things were heading in.

The bus pulled into the school grounds and the students poured into the building reluctantly. Bakura left quicker than most—he needed to calm down before he did something stupid. Marik followed after him, leaving just Melvin and Ryou on the bus.

Melvin glanced at his creampuff and his heart almost broke. It should be illegal for his usually happy, smiley boyfriend to look so distraught and miserable. And it was all Bakura's fault. He felt rage bubble up inside him. Was Bakura so selfish and stuck up his own ass that he couldn't see how much his temper tantrums affected his brother?

But unfortunately, Melvin knew he couldn't confront Bakura about it. As much as he'd love to kick the ever loving crap out of him, he knew that would upset Ryou, which was the last thing he wanted to do.

Instead, he devised another plan quickly in his mind that he hoped would cheer his creampuff up.

"Ryou, why don't you come over to my house tonight?"

Ryou's face lit up a little from the suggestion, but it quickly faded. "I'd love to Melvin, but what about Marik?"

Ryou didn't know that Marik knew about them being together. Since Marik had found out, Melvin had forced him to keep it a secret for Ryou's sake. He knew that Ryou didn't want anyone to know until they told Bakura, but it couldn't be helped that Marik walked in on them, so the Egyptians decided that they would keep it a secret. "Marik's going out for a while," he lied; he would speak to his brother about it later.

Ryou's face lit up again as he beamed at Melvin, "Sure! When should I come over?"

"I'll text you when Marik's gone."

"Okay!" Ryou said, now looking a lot happier than he had done a few minutes ago. If only he knew what Melvin was planning…

* * *

"Hey Bakura! Wait up!" Marik yelled after the head of white hair that was speeding through the halls.

"What do you want?" Bakura asked, stopping to turn around briefly.

"I just thought you might want some company…" Marik glanced at the floor as he shuffled towards where Bakura was waiting for him.

"I'm fine," Bakura replied coldly, picking up his pace.

"No you're not; it's obvious you're bothered about all of this."

"I can handle it by myself!"

"But you don't have to! You can talk about it, you know?"

"I'm not a girl, unlike you."

"Hey! I am not a girl! I'm just trying to help you," Marik said whilst folding his arms over his chest.

Bakura couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Thanks…I guess."

Marik beamed up at him, "No problem!"

There was that feeling again. The feeling he got whenever Marik looked at him like that. He turned his head away quickly, mumbling under his breath, "This is my form…so…bye." God, what was wrong with him? Why was he acting like such an idiot?

"Okay, bye Baku'!" Marik called with a small wave before going to his own form.

Despite himself, Bakura felt the corners of his mouth tugging into a smile. He needed to figure out what was happening, and soon.

* * *

Marik strolled down the halls, not paying much attention to where he was going, so when he bumped into a firm chest he was rather surprised.

"Stop daydreaming about Bakura and watch where you're going," Melvin remarked slyly, making his brother glare at him.

"Shut up! I think you're forgetting that I know a secret of yours that you specifically told me not to share. You never know, one day I might be so pissed off that it just slips out," Marik replied angrily, if Melvin kept making stupid comments Bakura was going to figure out he liked him!

"Okay okay! Don't get your panties in a bunch," Melvin said, earning him a punch in the arm. "Bitch!" he growled, "I actually came here to ask you a favour."

"And that would be?"

"I need you to leave the house for a few hours."

"What? Why?"

"Ryou's coming over…and we would like a little bit of privacy."

"What's so bad that I have to leave the house?" Marik asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He doesn't know you know, remember?"

"Can't I just hide in my room?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Can't you figure that one out for yourself? Or are you really desperate for all the juicy details?"

Realisation dawned on Marik's face, and he wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Fine! I'll leave! But where the hell am I supposed to go?"

"I don't know, I don't care, just be gone for a few hours!"

"Alright, alright! Can I go to my form now?"

Melvin stepped to the side, allowing his brother to walk past before heading to his own form.

* * *

Ryou tapped his pencil against his book impatiently. Today had dragged on for so long, he just wanted to go home and get ready to see Melvin! He wasn't just glad he was going to spend the evening; he was also excited he was going to see the Ishtar's house. He hadn't been inside before, and he was certainly curious to what it looked like.

The bell rang, and he leaped up from his chair. He threw his books into his bag haphazardly, and ran out of the door to the bus. He knew it was silly, getting on the bus earlier wouldn't make time go faster, but it made him feel better.

The bus ride seemed to take forever. Once they finally arrived home, Ryou opened the door and greeted their father. He said he was hungry, so Ryou made him a sandwich. He saw Bakura glaring at him from the corner of his eye, making sadness spread through Ryou's form. He would have to sort this mess between the two of them out soon, but not tonight. Ryou didn't want to think about things like that tonight, he was just going to enjoy himself with Melvin.

He mentioned to Bakura that he was going out for a while later, before excusing himself to study in his room. He unpacked his school bag and put his phone on his desk. He had some maths homework that he supposed he should make a start on. He set his things out, and made a start on the first question.

Twenty minutes later, he was still on the first question.

He let out a sigh and glanced at his phone that had remained silent the whole time. He couldn't get any work done, he couldn't think straight. He kept thinking about what Melvin could possibly have planned for the evening. They'd probably just order a pizza and watch TV for a bit, but he was still excited about it. So he sat and he waited…

And waited…

And waited…

And waited…

_BZZZZZZZ_!His phone vibrated making him jump. He flipped it open, and grinned seeing it was from Melvin. He opened the message and read:

_Marik's gone. _

He smiled even wider, before grabbing his jacket and racing down the stairs and out of the door.

* * *

**A/N: Melvin you sly dog ;D I'm sure you can all guess what he's got planned for his littler creampuff.**

**Any guesses as to what their father is up to are welcome. If any of you are right, I'll mention you in the chapter where everything is revealed.**

**I hope you enjoyed :D**


	21. Scars

**A/N: I promised you guys a long chapter, and here it is! This is the longest chapter in the entire fic as well :D **

**To the guest reviewer Expira Satoshi: A form is something we have over here in England. It's basically where we get registered in the morning, they say it's a lesson but no actual work ever gets done. I know they don't have them in Japan, but if I started writing about the Japanese school system things would get far too complicated and I'd probably give up with the fic, so I thought it'd be best to stick to what I know. Sorry for any confusion! **

**I was impressed with some of the suggestions about what Ryou and 'Kura's dad is up to – you guys are creative! But unfortunately none of you have guessed correctly (although,** **lil-yugioh-sonic-fan you're the closest) **

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A LARGE AMOUNT OF LEMONY GOODNESS! **

**Enjoy :3**

* * *

"Here we are creampuff," Melvin said as they pulled up in front of the Ishtar's house. He had left to pick Ryou up from their usual meet up spot – the shop – as soon as he had text him, and was waiting for his creampuff as Ryou arrived.

Ryou smiled at his boyfriend before getting out of the warm car. The cold air bit at his milky flesh as soon as he stood up, making him shiver. He pulled his coat as close to his body as it would go and ran to the door as quickly as his legs would carry him.

Melvin couldn't help but find the whole scene extremely adorable. He was tempted to make Ryou stay outside longer just so he could watch him as he shivered cutely with those delicious pink-tinted cheeks, but decided against it – he had more _entertaining_ plans for his creampuff.

Once the front door was opened, Ryou entered the house and took a look at the surroundings. The hallway had a dark brown carpet and light brown walls, making the room feel warm and comfortable. On the left wall there was a large mirror, and opposite was a staircase. Both walls were decorated with a collection of photographs from when Marik and Melvin were younger, but there was another person standing with them – a girl who looked just slightly older than them with shoulder length jet black hair and large blue eyes. She had a high resemblance to the Ishtar twins, but Ryou thought he better ask just to be sure.

"Hey, Melvin? Who's she?"

Melvin turned his head to see who Ryou was referring to before answering, "That's my older sister Ishizu."

"You have an older sister? How come you've never mentioned her before?"

He shrugged, "She never came up in conversation."

Ryou continued to look at the picture for a moment longer, before turning to look at Melvin with a wide smile on his face. "What have you got planned for this evening?"

A mischievous smirk stretched the Egyptians skin and he looked down at Ryou, "Oh…I just thought we would order a pizza and watch some TV."

Ryou's smile faltered a little; whenever Melvin looked like that he was up to something, and it usually wasn't something good.

Melvin looked at his creampuff's expression and slung an arm over his shoulder, pulling the white haired boy into his chest. "Don't look so worried Ryou!" A tanned hand started to snake its way up his shirt, rubbing the pale skin in circles, "I'm not planning on doing _anything_ you won't enjoy." He leant down and took the tip of the smaller boy's ear into his mouth. He grazed the top with his teeth, before licking the shell, and then sucking on the skin just below.

Ryou let his eyes slide shut as Melvin traced his skin with both his warm hands and his wet tongue. It was so nice to be able to enjoy the others company without any prying looks, or the constant fear his brother would barge in any second. He wanted to cherish every minute he had with Melvin whilst they were alone, and that's just what he planned to do!

He tipped his head to the side as his arms wound around Melvin's neck. He let out a soft, quiet moan as Melvin bit down on his skin, before trailing butterfly kisses up to his jaw, and then across to his slightly parted lips. Melvin looked at the supple, pink lips, before a smirk appeared on his own. He traced his tongue across Ryou's bottom lip slowly, savouring the taste of the Brit's soft, moist skin.

Ryou gasped and his eyes shot open. Chocolate brown stared into dark mauve, before Melvin started to inch closer.

_DINGDONG!_

Melvin paused when the annoying sound of the doorbell rang through the hallway. With a growl, he stood up straight and turned to face the door. "Well, looks like the pizza is here."

Ryou couldn't help but let out a small giggle at this disgruntled boyfriend's attitude. Melvin didn't say anything else as he strolled towards the door and flung it open. In the doorway stood a man dressed in a red t-shirt and black jeans, holding two pizza boxes in his arms. He smiled brightly at the Egyptian as he spoke, "Good evening, Sir!"

Melvin only grunted in response. He ripped the boxes from the pizza-boys arms and dug into his pocket for some money, before handing it to him and the slamming the door in his face.

Ryou frowned at Melvin's rudeness, but it was quickly forgotten when something else entered his mind. "When did you order those?" he pointed to the pizzas, "I can't remember you phoning for them…"

"I rang the pizza place just before I picked you up."

Ryou grinned. "I didn't think you were so organised…"

Melvin raised an eyebrow. "I've always been organised!"

Ryou just continued to smile up at the Egyptian as he took the pizzas out of the tanned arms. "Of course you have. Where's the lounge?"

Melvin pointed to one of the doors behind Ryou, and followed the white haired boy into the room. They set the pizza boxes down on the table in front of the couch. They sat next to each other, and Ryou started to open the boxes. "What type of pizza did you get?"

"I got you a Hawaiian, if that's okay?" Melvin said as he flipped open his own margherita.

Ryou froze. His fingers remained poised above the box that he'd just flipped open as he stared at the pizza. He ran his eyes across the chunks of ham and pineapple in front of him with a distant, sad look in his usually happy orbs.

Melvin noticed the sudden change in demeanour and voiced his concern. "Ryou, what's wrong?"

Ryou remained frozen; his eyes locked onto the pizza on the table.

Melvin was starting to get really worried now. He scooted across the couch until he was right beside Ryou – so close their legs were touching. He put a hand on the smaller boy's knee and moved so he was blocking the pizza from Ryou's intense gaze. "Ryou…?"

Ryou blinked twice and seemed to come back to life. He looked sheepishly at Melvin, who was still looking at him with confusion. "S-sorry…I got caught up in my thoughts for a second…"

"You can…tell me about it if you want?"

"No…no it's fine…I just…"

"Just what?" Melvin pushed. He didn't want to press on the matter too much if it upset Ryou, but he really wanted to know what was wrong.

"T-this was my mother's favourite pizza…she would always pick bits of the pineapple off and give them to me…" Ryou smiled fondly at the memory for a moment, before the same heartbroken expression broke out across his face.

Melvin put his arm around Ryou, and started to rub his back soothingly. As he was comforting his boyfriend, something seemed to click in his mind. The only other times he had seen Ryou this sad was on the bus this morning, and in England when they visited the lighthouse… He was debating with himself as to whether he should try and get further information out of the Brit, and eventually, his curiosity won.

"Ryou? Do you remember when we visited the lighthouse in England?"

"Y-yes…"

"Why did that upset you so much?"

Ryou remained silent for a long moment with next to no emotion showing on his features, before he decided to speak, "I don't know if I should say…last time I tried to talk about it…I-I…well, it didn't end very well."

"How long ago did you try to talk about it?"

"A few months after it happened…"

"How long ago did it happen?"

"A few years ago."

"Maybe it would be easier to speak about it now…?"

"I-I guess…but…it's not really very interesting, I'm sure you don't really want to know… you're probably just being polite."

Melvin snorted. "If I didn't want to know I'd tell you to shut the fuck up."

"But…"

"No buts." He cupped Ryou's face in his hands, and turned the smaller boys head so he could look into his eyes –which were now rimming with unshed tears. "Please?"

Ryou's gaze lifted to those familiar purple eyes that were burning with concern and curiosity. He wanted to tell Melvin so badly about his past…but Bakura had always warned him not to speak about it.

"I…"

"How about I tell you about my past if you tell me yours?"

"Your past?" Ryou inquired.

"Yeah, some things happened back in Egypt that Marik and I haven't spoken about… I can tell you, if you tell me yours?"

"But that's not fair on you, Melvin! I can't force you to tell me your past!" Although he had to admit, the offer was tempting.

"You're not forcing me; I'm offering to tell you."

Ryou bit his lip. He really wanted to know Melvin's past, but then he would have to relive that moment all over again. He glanced back up at his boyfriend who was patiently awaiting his answer. Melvin deserved to know – they were so close to each other, it was only fair he knew.

With a deep breath, he leant forwards to rest his head against Melvin's broad chest. The Egyptian instinctively wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and lay down backwards, bringing him closer. Ryou snuggled into the warmth, and snapped his eyes shut as his past unfolded in his mind's eye.

"When I was younger, as you know, I lived in England with my parents and Bakura. We used to go on holiday a lot – every time we were off of school, our parents took us out traveling around the country. We used to go to seaside towns a lot, like Whitby, because they were mothers favourite. On one particular holiday, we were visiting the town's lighthouse. Bakura and I had rushed to the top straight away, and we had left mother and father at the bottom. They were talking about where we were going to eat, and I remember seeing mother walk off. Father came up the stairs to tell us she had gone to book a table at a restaurant and that she would be back soon."

"We waited for around an hour before father began to get suspicious. I told him there was probably just a long cue at the restaurant, or that mother had become side tracked and just forgot to ring. Father didn't seem fully convinced, but he took us back to the hotel we were staying in so that we could freshen up for dinner." Ryou paused for a moment and swallowed to moisten his suddenly dry throat. He moved his hand up to fist it in Melvin's shirt, clutching his eyes tighter together. "W-we waited for another few hours, but she never came back. We sent her thousands of text messages and phone calls, but she didn't answer. We were all beginning to get worried, so we went to look for her."

"We split up to search for her. Father went back to the lighthouse to see if she was there, Bakura looked around near the hotel, and I went to the restaurant in case she was possibly still held up in there. As I neared the building, I heard a phone ring and I recognised it as mothers. I was so happy! I followed the noise, and it led me into an alley beside the restaurant, which now that I think about it did seem suspicious, but at the time I was too happy to care. I continued to listen for the noise, and it drew me closer into the alley, until I was greeted with a brick wall – a dead end. I started to call for her, in hopes that I had just missed her in the darkness of the night, but I received no answer. I turned around to go back to the street, and that's when I saw her."

"S-she was lying on the floor with a knife stuck in her chest. There was blood staining her shirt and pooling on the ground underneath her, but I think the most frightening thing had to be that her eyes were still wide open, and I could see every ounce of fear that must had been in them before…she…died. I inched towards her slowly; I didn't believe that this woman on the floor was my mother. I knelt beside her and touched her hand with my own. She was ice cold. There was no way she could have been saved, but I still called the ambulance along with my father, I still had to hope."

"My father arrived with Bakura whilst I was still knelt beside my mother. Father dropped down next to me and started to cry, and Bakura stood in shock as tears began to pool in his eyes. I didn't know how long it was before the ambulance arrived, but soon enough they did and we were all escorted to the hospital. The police arrived and started to question us. I told them everything I knew. They eventually caught the attacker, but by then it didn't really matter; my mother was already dead."

"Once we arrived back home, father became very distant. He started to become more involved in work, and spent less time with Bakura and I. Bakura started to resent him for it. He would make sarcastic comments whenever father spoke to us, and rejected him whenever he attempted to spend actual time with us – which was rare. Soon he decided that he couldn't cope with living in England any longer, and moved us to Japan. He started going on digs as we became older and could cope with looking after ourselves, and now we rarely ever see him. He only really visits at Christmas…"

Melvin didn't say anything as Ryou's tale came to a close. He didn't want to say he was sorry for what had happened – he knew Ryou wouldn't want him to. Instead he ran his fingers through the silky white locks, and that was when he felt something wet against his shirt, and he realised Ryou was crying silently. He tilted the smaller boys head up so that they could once again look at each other face to face. "Thank you."

"T-thank you? What for?"

"For trusting me enough to tell me."

The corners of Ryou's mouth lifted into the smallest smile Melvin had ever seen. He moved to lie his head back down onto the Egyptian, but was surprised to find that his head hit the soft, fluffy pillow instead of Melvin's broad chest. Ryou sat up, and looked around to see where the Egyptian had gone, and was surprised to see him standing up in front of the table with his hands on the hem of his black t-shirt.

"M-Melvin! W-what are you doing?"

"Showing you my past," Melvin said matter-of-factly, before lifting his shirt over his head and turning around.

Ryou gasped and his eyes widened at the sight before him. The tanned skin on Melvin's back was marred in a collection of various scars that looked like they had been burnt into his flesh. "Oh my goodness! What happened to you?"

Melvin walked back over to the couch and sat down, not bothering to put his shirt back on. Ryou sat up fully and concentrated on Melvin's face, listening intently as the Egyptian told him his past.

"When Marik, Ishizu and I used to live in Egypt, we lived with only our father – our mother died whilst she was giving birth to Marik and me. Our father was – for lack of a better word – a psychopath. He would attack us for no good reason, but he went after the Marik the most because he was the younger twin. Mother survived giving birth to me, but died as she was giving birth to Marik, so he blamed Marik for her death. He used to whip him almost every day – Marik has scars across his back like I have burns on mine."

"One day, father got really angry with Marik. He had stayed after school to help a friend with a project and forgot to ring home. Once he arrived home, father had planned a special 'welcome back' present for his son. I was in my room when it happened. I heard kicking and screaming – screams worse than any I had heard before. I ran downstairs to see what was happening, and saw that father had strapped Marik to the kitchen table, and was heating a knife above a candle. I have no idea what he was planning to do, but I acted before he could do any harm. "

"He hadn't noticed that I was in the room with him, so I used it to my advantage. I ran forwards, and pushed him over. He fell into the table, and knocked himself out momentarily on the corner. I called for Ishizu, and she came down to try and help me untie our brother, but we both failed to notice that the candle had fallen to the floor and was beginning to set the carpet on fire. We eventually got Marik off of the table, and we were about to leave, when father grabbed my foot and pulled me to the ground with him. He said something along the lines of 'if I burn, I'm taking you with me,' and that's when I noticed the fire for the first time. I started to struggle against his grip but it was no good, and the flames eventually caught up with me. They spread through my shirt first, and I could feel them melting away my flesh, but I didn't give up. The flames were also eating away at father's skin, and he gave into the pain first and released my leg. I scrambled to my feet as quickly as I could, and ran outside, still fully aware that my back was on fire. As soon as I was outside, I pulled my shirt off and started to roll on the floor to put the flames out. I was vaguely aware that the fire brigade had arrived, but I had already passed out."

"It turns out our father died in the fire, and luckily Ishizu was old enough to get a job and live on her own, otherwise we would have been thrown into foster care. Ishizu got offered a job at the museum here, so we moved with her, and now here we are."

Ryou sat for a moment in silence, taking in everything that had been said. It seemed they both had quite tragic pasts, and both had scars – Ryou emotionally, and Melvin physically. Ryou's gaze then shifted towards Melvin's chest. "Can I touch them?"

"Touch what?"

"The scars…can I touch them, please?"

Melvin seemed slightly hesitant for a moment, before he turned around and presented his back to Ryou once more.

Ryou hesitantly reached forwards, and brushed his fingers delicately across the tainted skin. He felt the rough, damaged skin underneath his soft touch, and it made him shudder. It felt like a crime to have such a handsome creature disfigured by such a horrible past, but at the same time it's what made Melvin how he is today – and Ryou wouldn't have him any other way.

Melvin turned around to look at Ryou, and was surprised when a pair of pale lips connected with his own. Melvin returned the kiss with a fiery passion, and managed to snake his tongue in between the lips he loved so much. He mapped out the moist cavern, and turned so that Ryou could climb onto his lap. One of Ryou's arms found the tanned neck again, whilst the other one snuck its way into the Egyptians hair. He used his position to pull Melvin closer, effectively deepening the kiss as their lips crashed against each other.

Melvin broke their kiss for the briefest of seconds to whisper in Ryou's ear, "Wrap your legs around my waist." Ryou did as he was told, and as soon as the smaller boy was in position, Melvin reattached their lips. He gripped the smaller boy's waist securely, and hoisted them off of the couch with their lips still connected.

Ryou gave a small squeak as he was lifted from the couch, and clung onto Melvin tighter, but it was quickly turned into a moan as Melvin moved from his lips to suck on his neck. He walked them through the living room and up the stairs as he sucked, licked and nipped on the tender flesh. Once they were at the top, he practically ran into his room and threw his creampuff on the bed.

Ryou lay panting and flushed on his back as he watched Melvin lock the door, before turning to him with a delicious smirk plastered on his tanned face. He licked his lips before creeping closer, and sliding on top of Ryou on the bed. He rested on his elbows as he lay on top of the smaller boy. Their faces were so close, their noses were touching.

"Now… I did have an idea to cheer you up…" Melvin whispered, his hot breath tickling Ryou's face. "If you're up for it that is, I know I am." To emphasis his point, he moved his hips so that they rubbed against Ryou's, eliciting a small moan from the both of them.

Ryou's face turned a bright shade of red as he thought about what Melvin was saying. Was he really suggesting that they have…sex? Melvin's lips found their way to his neck again. They kissed his skin sensually slowly, as his hips ground into Ryou's at the same agonisingly slow pace. Ryou couldn't help the small, panting moans that escaped his mouth as his clothed arousal rubbed against Melvin's in a _very_ suggestive way.

Melvin stopped his assault on the pale boy's skin again, and looked at Ryou with glazed over eyes. "So, what do you say? Want me to make you feel better?"

Ryou shivered from the images of Melvin making him 'feel better,' and squeaked even louder when he felt the Egyptian nuzzle his neck as he waited for an answer. "I-I guess I don't have any complaints…" As he spoke, his face got progressively redder.

Melvin grinned down at Ryou with wild eyes. "Let's get started then, shall we?" He sat up slightly, now putting more pressure on his knees as his hands moved to the hem of Ryou's shirt. He tugged on the bottom and Ryou arched his back to allow Melvin to pull the fabric up and over his head.

Melvin ran his hands across Ryou's bare torso briefly, before he leant down to lick at the newly exposed skin. He ran his skilled tongue up from Ryou's navel and towards his nipples temporarily. He took one into his mouth, swirling his tongue across the erect nub, before moving and giving the other the same special treatment. His tongue then moved back upwards to his neck, and then finally met his lips again. He pressed his chest flush against Ryou's, and said boy gasped from the skin on skin contact – this was something he could get used to…

Melvin moved his hands back down to Ryou's waist, and his fingers dipped underneath the pale boy's jeans. He slid them around to the bottom and popped it open in his first attempt, before under doing the zip. Ryou gasped into Melvin's mouth as a tanned pair of knuckles traced across his member gently. Melvin couldn't help but smirk as he felt the bulge under his creampuffs boxers. He slid the jeans down as far as he could without disconnecting their lips, and Ryou kicked them off when they reached his ankles.

Once they were safely on the ground, Melvin made to also remove Ryou's boxers, but was stopped when the white haired boy smacked his hand away. He looked at Ryou in surprise, did he do something wrong? He thought Ryou wanted to do this…

"Ryou…I'm so-" His words were cut short as a pair of shy, pale hands reached forwards to his zipper. He gave Ryou a cocky grin, causing a blush to spread across the Brit's skin, making him look away.

"I…urm…didn't want to be the only one with no clothes on…"

"Admit it creampuff, you just wanted to see me naked."

Ryou blushed even harder – if that were even possible. "W-well…that too…"

He continued to undo Melvin's jeans, and then swiftly pulled them down. What he saw certainly shocked him – Melvin wasn't wearing any underwear.

Melvin couldn't help but chuckle as Ryou's eyes widened when he looked his naked boyfriend up and down. He moved his hands back to their original position on Ryou's boxers, and this time he pulled them down straight away.

He moved forwards and slid his hand under his pillows, before pulling out a bottle of lube.

"Y-you keep lube…underneath your pillow?" Ryou asked as he regarded the small bottle.

"Yep, what do you expected me to do when I'm alone?" Melvin replied with no embarrassment on his face as he popped the cap open. Ryou gulped when he saw Melvin pour some of the clear liquid across his fingers.

"Are you ready?" Melvin asked. He moved his non-lubricated hands to stroke Ryou's thigh soothingly.

Ryou let out a shaky breath as he nodded his head. He was nervous, but he did want this to happen. He spread his legs wider to give Melvin better access, and the Egyptian inserted a finger slowly. Ryou squirmed from the strange sensation, but immediately relaxed when Melvin moved his other hand to stroke at his manhood.

He started to pant, the pleasure battling the pain as Melvin's hand maintained a steady pace along his member. The pleasure was lost however, when Melvin inserted a second finger and began to stretch the smaller boy.

Now the sensations of Melvin's hand on his arousal was doing nothing to mask how uncomfortable he felt, so Melvin leant forward to kiss the pale boys skin soothingly.

"Don't worry; it will only be uncomfortable for a little longer," he whispered, trying his best to relax the white haired boy.

Ryou nodded and forced his muscles to relax, which effectively made what Melvin was doing hurt a lot less.

Once Melvin deemed him stretched enough, he removed his fingers from the pale boy, and grabbed the bottle of lube again. He squeezed some into his right hand, and started to lather his manhood in the clear liquid.

The sight of Melvin touching himself made Ryou's breath hitch; he couldn't tear his eyes away from the arousing sight. His mouth was open and he knew he was drooling, but at the moment he didn't really care – he was too busy concentrating on the sexy, muscular, tanned Egyptian that was stroking himself.

Once Melvin was ready, he positioned himself at Ryou's entrance. He stared down at the beautiful boy beneath him – he couldn't believe they were about to do this, he was so sure Ryou would reject him! This was such a pleasant surprise, and he was going to savour every second of it. He tucked a piece of hair behind Ryou's ear, and caressed the soft face in his rough palm, his other hand moved down to rest on Ryou's hip. He moved to place a chaste kiss on the other lips, before snapping his hips forwards and entering quickly. Ryou cried out in pain, but it was muffled by Melvin's mouth. He dug his nails into the tanned shoulders and concentrated on the feeling of Melvin's lips moving against his own instead of the burning in his rear.

Melvin, on the other hand, was in pure bliss. Ryou felt so damn _good!_ He had to gather all of his restraint together so he didn't move; he wanted Ryou to enjoy this just as much as he was.

After a few moments, Ryou's pained gasps slowed down, and he nodded to let Melvin know he was ready.

Melvin thanks the gods that Ryou was finally comfortable enough, and didn't hesitate to start moving. His pace started off slowly as he allowed Ryou to adjust as much as possible to the intrusion, before they started to speed up.

Ryou lay on his back panting. He loved the feeling of being so close to Melvin, and he was truly flattered that the Egyptian had wanted to become so intimate with him. Small, appreciative moans escaped his lips as Melvin continued to pound into him.

Melvin saw that his creampuff wasn't enjoying this as much as he should have been, and started to move his hips in hopes of hitting his 'special spot'.

Ryou saw that Melvin was moving his hips in different angles, and was about to question his actions when stars shot in front of his vision.

"A-ahh!" Ryou moaned. He wrapped his legs around Melvin's waist to draw them as close together as possible – he didn't know what just happened, but he _needed_ to feel it again.

Melvin smirked, that was definitely the kind of response he was looking for. He continued to slam into Ryou's prostate as hard and as fast he could, relishing in the gorgeous moans that continued to spill from Ryou's mouth.

The smaller boy felt his stomach tense and he knew he was close. His grip on Melvin tightened as his head tipped backwards and he arched his back, releasing across both of their chests, whilst screaming Melvin's name.

Melvin soon followed afterwards, and collapsed onto the white haired boy when he finished. They both lay panting together for a moment, before Melvin mustered up the strength to roll next to Ryou. He looked at his flustered boyfriend, who was staring back at him with a lazy smile on his face.

"Well, did I succeed?"

"Succeed in what?" Ryou asked with a puzzled expression.

"In cheering you up."

"Oh." The smile appeared once again on Ryou's face. "Yes, you did."

"Good," Melvin said whilst drawing his creampuff closer to his chest and wrapping his arms around him.

They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the afterglow of their activities in silence. They were both re-living the last few minutes of bliss in their minds, replaying every glorious moment they had just shared.

"Oh crap!" Ryou suddenly exclaimed, breaking the silence and startling Melvin slightly.

"What's up?"

"We forgot about the pizza! I'm so sorry; you wasted your money on it for nothing!"

Melvin stared at the white haired boy for a second in disbelief, before he burst out laughing. "Ryou, don't worry about the pizza now! I can sort that out later, just relax."

"Okay…" Ryou said with a small frown, but did as he was told and snuggled back down into Melvin's chest.

"You know, I need to go soon otherwise Bakura and my father will get suspicious."

"You can stay for a while longer though, right?"

Ryou stared at a spot on the wall for a moment, lost in deep thought. "I guess I can stay for a bit longer, I'm too tired to go anywhere at the moment anyway…"

Melvin grinned. "Great!"

Ryou beamed equally as brightly at Melvin. He rested his head back down on the tanned chest, and Melvin's hand moved to stroke his fluffy white hair softly. Ryou felt the happiest he had ever felt at that moment. Both he and Melvin had entrusted each other with their deepest secrets, and they had just become closer than he ever imagined they would be. He didn't expect this to happen so soon, but he had no regrets. As much as the thought made him blush, he really did love Melvin, and he was exceptionally glad that his first time had been with him.

His eyes began to droop closed as the Egyptian continued to run his tanned hand through Ryou's white tresses. His body was exhausted, and he felt content being with Melvin, hugged against his chest. So when sleep greeted him, he gladly accepted and let his eyes close completely.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there's my attempt at writing a deathshipping lemon! I hope it's okay for everybody! **


	22. Love Bites

**A/N: I'm sorry this is so late, and so short! I've had the week from hell and I haven't had a chance to write. I'm going to start typing up the next chapter as soon as this is uploaded, so hopefully the wait for that won't be too long :)**

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A loud crash from downstairs jerked Ryou awake. He rubbed the sleep from his still very tired eyes, and rolled over with the intention of returning to his dreams, when he caught sight of the time.

Normally it being midnight wouldn't bother him, but this time was different. The fact that he was in a bed and not on a couch should have been the first give away, but instead the thing that alerted him that something wasn't quite right was the fact he didn't have a digital clock like the one he was currently facing. He sat up slowly to take in his surroundings, and realised that he wasn't in his living room – he was in Melvin's bedroom.

His foggy, sleep-hazed mind began to clear, and he started to remember their earlier activities. He smiled at the warm memories, but his features quickly turned into a frown – Bakura was going to be absolutely livid that he had stayed out so late, and it was going to make him even more suspicious. He needed to sneak back into his house undetected, otherwise things could turn ugly.

Not knowing what else to do, Ryou decided to wake up his sleeping boyfriend.

"Melvin!" he hissed quietly, "Melvin, wake up!"

"Hmm?" Melvin said groggily, rolling over to face Ryou, "What's wrong?"

"It's midnight!" he said in a panicked voice. He moved into a sitting position to try and wake himself up even more. "I should have left hours ago!" There was another loud crash from the kitchen. "And I think somebody is downstairs."

Melvin looked at the ground for a moment with a look of deep concentration on his face, before he turned back to look at Ryou. "I have a plan, but first put your clothes on."

Ryou looked confused for a moment, before realisation dawned him. Of course, he was still naked from the night before. He blushed lightly as he scanned the floor for his clothes – which was a difficult task considering how dark it was. Once he located the items, he pulled them onto his body haphazardly, trying to be as quick as possible.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Ishizu is probably the person downstairs – she eats late when she's been on a night shift. I can go down and try to distract her whilst you sneak outside. I'll slip out the back afterwards and drive you home," Melvin said as he started to pull his own clothes on. "It shouldn't be too difficult to get past Ishizu if you're quiet. If you make too much noise she'll start to investigate, and trust me you don't want that to happen."

"Have you done this before?" Ryou asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe a few times…"

Ryou giggled a little, before he had an idea. "Wouldn't it be easier if we waited for Ishizu to go to sleep?"

"She won't go to bed for a couple of hours. She likes to stay up for a while when she's been on a nightshift. I used to think it was weird, but I do the same when I have to work late on the weekends."

"Hold on a second…you have a job?" Ryou asked with a blank on his face – he could have sworn Melvin had never mentioned it before.

"Yeah, I thought I told you?"

"I don't think you did…where do you work?"

"At the museum," Melvin replied.

"How long have you been working there?" Ryou questioned. He couldn't believe he didn't know his own boyfriend had a job!

"Since just before we went to England. I got the job to pay for you to go," Melvin answered matter-of-factly.

Ryou grinned brightly at the taller Egyptian. "You got a job so I could go to England?"

"Yeah…" Melvin said slowly.

"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me! I don't think... not even my own father would do something like that…"

Melvin crept closer to Ryou. "You know me creampuff, I'm always willing to please," he said with a smirk, before leaning down and whispering, "in more ways than one…"

Ryou felt his cheeks darken as a shiver ran down his spine. "W-we…urm…should p-probably get going… the sooner I get home, the less suspicious Bakura will be…"

Melvin chuckled at Ryou's reaction as he moved towards the door. "Wait at the top of the stairs; I'll give you a signal when it's safe for you to come down. I'll unlock the door before I go into the kitchen."

Ryou nodded as they snuck out of the bedroom together, trying to be as quiet as possible. Doing what he was told, Ryou waited at the top whilst Melvin made his way down the stairs.

The Egyptian slipped into the kitchen unnoticed, and sure enough saw Ishizu fusing over a bowl of noodles.

"Hungry, Sis?"

Ishizu nearly jumped ten feet into the air when she heard her brother's voice. "Melvin! You nearly gave me a heart attack! What are you doing up at this time?"

"I couldn't sleep," he lied.

Ishizu gave her brother a worried look. "Is there anything I can do for you? It is a school night after all; you need as much sleep as possible!"

Melvin had to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the childish treatment. He needed to act as nice as possible if he was going to sneak Ryou home. He was about to turn down his sisters offer, when he had an idea. "Actually… I was wondering… could I have something to eat?"

Ishizu gave him a questioning look. "How would that help you get to sleep?"

"I'm kind of hungry, and I think that's what's keeping me awake," Melvin said whilst trying to look as pathetic as he possibly could, hoping desperately that Ishizu would believe his excuse.

Ishizu's blue eyes softened. "What would you like?"

Melvin inwardly grinned; he didn't think it would this easy! "Some…" He thought for a moment, before inspiration hit him, "Noodles."

Ishizu nodded. "Go and lie down on the couch, I'll call you when they're done."

Melvin gave his sister his most sincere smile, before walking into the hallway. Once the kitchen door was shut firmly behind him, he hurried over to the stairs. "Ryou! Come on!" he called in a hushed voice.

The white haired boy rushed down the stairs as quietly as he could, and met the Egyptian by the door. Melvin unlocked it quickly, and they practically ran into the cool night air. They jumped into the Ishtar's car, and sped out of the driveway, racing down the streets to Ryou's house.

"Aren't you going to get into a lot of trouble for this?" Ryou asked with concern.

Melvin shrugged, "It doesn't bother me. Will you be okay sneaking into your house?"

Ryou thought for a moment before answering, "It shouldn't be too much of a problem; Bakura should be asleep by now and if he isn't, he'll be in his room."

Melvin nodded slightly, before turning to flash Ryou a smirk. "Next time we do this, we'll have to have a better plan."

Ryou's eyes widened, "N-next time?"

"Of course creampuff, now that you've let me have a taste, there's no going back." Melvin ran his tongue along his bottom lip as he looked at Ryou.

Ryou's cheeks darkened, but he couldn't suppress a smile. "I'm okay with that…"

Melvin grinned at him as he turned his attention back to the road.

Eventually they pulled up in front Ryou's house, and he noticed with a sigh of relief that all of the lights were out – Bakura was asleep.

"Try to not get caught, okay?" Melvin said as Ryou started to get out of the car.

"I'll do my best." He leant forwards to peck the Egyptian on cheek, before sliding out of the door. "You had better be going now; Ishizu's is probably worried sick!"

"She'll live," Melvin said, but started the car nonetheless. "I'll see you at school."

Ryou waved as the Egyptian drove off, before turning to face his house. He took in a shaky breath as he strode up to the door and unlocked it. He entered the house cautiously, tiptoeing across the wooden floor until he reached the living rooms doorway. He carefully made his way over to the couch and sat down, letting out a relieved sigh. How he managed to get away with that, he'll never know. But what he did know was that it was obscenely late, and that he was exhausted, so without any further hesitation, he lay his head down on the couch cushion, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The next morning Ryou awoke to the sound of footsteps stamping around above him. He groaned and rubbed his eyes with his hands – he was absolutely shattered, but he still had to go to school.

He went about his morning routine with hardly any interruptions from his family, and was ready for school in no time. He was sat at the kitchen table, pouring himself a bowl of cornflakes, when he first saw his brother.

"Morning 'Kura," he said innocently, despite the nervous, guilty feeling that was eating away at his insides.

"Ahh Ryou! I see you finally decided to grace us with your presence," Bakura said with some amusement in his voice.

Ryou gulped, he wasn't prepared to be interrogated – he didn't have a backup story! Deciding there was only one way to get out of this, he chose to play clueless. "What do you mean?"

Bakura frowned. "You know what I mean."

"I-I don't!"

"Do I need to refresh your memory?" Bakura asked in a condescending tone. "You left yesterday evening and didn't return till this morning. I also heard a car pull up outside and drop you off. Where were you and who were you with?"

"I…" Ryou started, desperately trying to think of an excuse.

"Yes?"

"I just lost track of time…"

"Nobody loses track of time that quickly, and what about that car?"

"There wasn't a car…" Ryou felt terrible about lying, but he didn't know what else to do. He couldn't tell his brother the truth because he didn't know how he would react.

"Then what did I hear?"

Ryou shrugged. "Maybe it was one of the neighbours?" he said, before turning back to his cereal.

Bakura sat down opposite him. "I know you're lying Ry'. I will get the truth out of you soon."

Ryou didn't answer him. He picked up his spoon and was about to start eating, when he realised his hair was in the way. He flipped it over his shoulder, and began to tuck into his breakfast.

"What's that?"

"What's what?" Ryou asked in between mouthfuls of cornflakes.

"That," Bakura said, pointing to the newly revealed piece of flesh on Ryou's neck. "That mark."

Ryou froze. He lifted his gaze from his cereal to look at his brother, who was staring at him curiously. "T-that's nothing."

"No it isn't! It's definitely something." Bakura moved closer. "Let me get a better look."

Ryou's hand instinctively went to cover his neck. "No! It's really nothing, 'Kura!"

"I don't believe you, let me see!"

Ryou yelped as his brother lunged at him, sending them both crashing to the floor. Bakura's hand grabbed Ryou's arm, and tore it away from his neck. He leaned in to get a better a look, and once he saw what it was, he sat up with a smirk on his face.

"A love bite, huh?" The amusement that was in his voice earlier returned, "Has little innocent Ryou got himself a fuck-buddy?"

Ryou's eyes widened as his cheeks darkened. "O-of course not!"

Bakura didn't listen to him. He stood up and walked towards the table. "If that's all you were doing last night, why didn't you say so?" he asked whilst pouring some cereal.

"Because it wasn't…" Ryou mumbled half-heartedly – there was really no point in denying it now that Bakura had evidence.

"Bullshit!" Bakura said with half a mouth full of cereal. "So, who is she?" He thought for a moment, before adding, "Or he."

"It's no one!"

"If you don't want to tell me yet, that's fine. But I will find out eventually."

Ryou didn't answer, and so they sat in silence for a few minutes, before something crossed his mind. "Where's dad?"

"Still in bed, why?"

"Oh…if he's still in bed we should leave now."

Bakura blinked, "Why's that?"

"In all honesty…I don't feel like making him breakfast, I'm too tired."

Bakura nodded his head in understanding. "Too tired from all the fucking you did last night, right?"

Ryou's cheeks darkened again, "Oh, shut up and finish your cereal!"

Bakura could hardly contain his laughter at his brother's expense, but did as he was told. Once he had cleared the contents of his bowl, they pulled on their jackets and made their way to the bus stop.

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**A/N: I just want to say another quick thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favourited, and followed! Without you guys, this fic wouldn't be here so...Thanks!**


	23. Realisation

**A/N: Woo! This chapter is early, and it's longer than the last one! I'm pleased with how this turned out, and I hope you are too! :D**

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Ryou tapped his pencil against his maths book as the teacher continued to drone on about a subject he had already learned. Aside from history, maths was his least favourite lesson, mainly because he was alone. Before this year that wouldn't have bothered him, but now it was different. He had become so used to the company of the Ishtar's, that when he was left alone it seemed worse than it had when he used to be alone practically all the time. He tried to concentrate on whatever it was his teacher was talking about to take his mind off of his loneliness, but soon found it wandering again. He thought back to earlier that day and frowned a little. For the entire morning Bakura continued to make inappropriate comments about his brothers 'love life,' much to Ryou's annoyance. Every time the opportunity arose, he would throw in an innuendo or two. It was evident with every remark the Egyptians were becoming more and more confused, and Ryou knew that Melvin was wondering whether he had been caught and ended up telling Bakura everything. Ryou promised himself he would explain what had really happened as soon as he could.

The bell rang signalling the end of third period, and Ryou was more than just a little bit happy that the lesson was finally over. He checked his timetable quickly, and saw that he had chemistry next – he could talk to Melvin about what happened now. He packed his books into his bag and quickly made his way to his next class.

When Ryou arrived, Melvin was already sat at the desk with a bored look on his tanned face.

"Hello Melvin!" he chirped happily.

Melvin turned around to look at the white haired boy, and a small, barely noticeable smile appeared on his face. "Creampuff," he said with a nod of his head in Ryou's direction.

Ryou sat down in his seat next to the Egyptian. "How did you get on last night? Was Ishizu angry?"

"Yes, she was angry, but she'll get over it," Melvin said offhandedly, like the idea of being in trouble with a family member didn't bother him at all. "What about you with Bakura?"

"Well… last night I thought I managed to get in without being heard, but I was mistaken. Bakura heard me, and he…um…he saw the…"

Melvin raised an eyebrow. "He saw the what?"

"The…um…bites…" Ryou blushed and looked away, making Melvin chuckle.

"I see, and now he knows about us?"

"Well, not exactly…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, yes he did put two and two together and figured out that I'm seeing somebody, but he doesn't know it's you," Ryou said, frowning. Keeping their relationship a secret was going to be even harder now; he really needed to figure out a way to break the news to Bakura.

"Okay, but you know he's going to figure it out eventually, right?"

"I know…"

"Oh, before I forget!" Melvin said with a grin, "do you want to come over again tonight? Ishizu is working, and kicking Marik out won't be a problem."

Ryou bit his lip, "I don't know if I should…what about Bakura?"

"Don't worry about Bakura! If he thinks you're fucking around with someone – which you are, but that's not the point – then he'll expect you to go out more. Come on, I don't know how long it'll be before Ishizu is on nights again…"

Ryou thought for moment, before he smiled, "Okay, I'll come over."

Melvin's grin grew, "Brilliant!"

* * *

After their fourth lesson, Melvin went on the hunt to find his brother, and to tell him he needed to leave again tonight. He scanned the halls for a head of blond hair, as he pushed past students rudely. Just when he thought his efforts were useless, he saw his brother leaving the boys toilets. He rushed towards his target and grabbed Marik by the arm, pulling him to a less crowded part of the school.

Marik squeaked from the force, trying to wriggle from his brother's grip. Once Melvin stopped walking, Marik yanked his arm out of his hand. "What the frig was that for?!"

Melvin rolled his eyes. "Just shut up for a second, I need to ask you another favour."

"And what, dear brother, is that?" Marik asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I need you to leave again tonight."

"What? No!"

"Why not?"

"It's my house too! You can't just kick me out whenever you feel like it!"

"I can, and I will."

"No you can't! I'm not leaving!"

"If you don't leave by choice, I'll make you leave," Melvin growled at his brother.

"You wouldn't hurt your own brother."

"Do you want to test that theory?" Melvin said, grinning and showing of his sharp canines in a threatening way.

"Fine! I'll friggin' leave!" Marik said, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "But you owe me!"

"Good boy," Melvin said before walking off, leaving an irritated Marik behind him.

"Ugh! Friggin' idiot," Marik mumbled to himself.

"Who's an idiot?" a familiar British voice sounded from behind him. Marik spun around, and saw Bakura walking closer towards him.

"My brother, that's who!" the Egyptian nearly shouted, clearly very frustrated.

Bakura raised an eyebrow at Marik's behaviour, "Granted, he is a dickhead, but what's he done to make you so pissed?"

"He's friggin' kicked me out of the house because he wants it to himself!" Marik huffed. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

"Why exactly does he want the house to himself?"

Marik then realised what he'd just said. He couldn't tell Bakura the real reason – as angry as he was, he didn't want to drop Ryou into a mess. "I don't know!" he lied.

Bakura nodded, before a thought occurred to him. "You said you don't have anywhere to go, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well…you could come to my house…if you wanted to."

A glimmer of hope flickered across Marik's features, "Really?"

"It only seems fair if you have nowhere else..."

Marik smiled, "Okay, thanks!"

"Whatever… Come on, I'm bloody starving!" Bakura said as he walked to the lunch hall, Marik trailing behind him.

* * *

Ryou was sat alone at their usual table, nibbling on his sandwich as he scanned the lunch hall for any familiar faces. Where was everyone? He was beginning to get worried, when he saw Melvin making his way towards the table.

"I just spoke to Marik – he's leaving later so you can definitely come over!" Melvin said once he was close enough.

Ryou grinned. "Great! But if you've just spoken to Marik…where is he?"

Melvin shrugged, "He's probably still having a bitch fit about being kicked out. He'll get over it soon."

Ryou tried to suppress his laughter at Marik having a 'bitch fit' with a frown. "Is he okay?"

"Oh he's more than okay," Melvin said with a smirk.

"Huh? How do you know?"

"Turn around."

Ryou did as he was told and spun around in his chair to see what Melvin was looking at. He glanced around for a moment, before he finally spotted Marik and Bakura. It wasn't such an abnormal sight, and Ryou was about to question what Melvin was going on about, when he caught sight of something that certainly didn't happen every day. They were both smiling – his brother was _smiling – _as they walked over. Ryou turned around to face Melvin again as a grin broke out across his face.

"I wonder what they're so happy about."

"I don't know what Bakura is so happy about, but I know why Marik's grinning like a fool," Melvin said as he bit into his sandwich.

"Why's that?"

"He has a crush on your brother."

"I KNEW IT!" Ryou exclaimed, causing a few people on surrounding tables to give him questioning looks. He gave them a sheepish smile before turning back to Melvin. "How do you know?"

"He told me a while ago."

"This is so cute!" Ryou said, glancing around again to look at Bakura and Marik, who were almost at the table. "I think 'Kura likes Marik too, but he just hasn't realised yet."

"Well, then he's an idiot."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you not that long ago," Marik's nasally voice announced their presence. They both took a seat – Bakura next to Ryou, and Marik next to Melvin.

"Don't get a big head, I wasn't talking about you."

"Who were you talking about?"

Melvin opened his mouth to answer, but one look from Ryou shut him up. "It doesn't matter."

Marik looked confused for a moment, but his attention was quickly diverted when Bakura began to speak.

"Before I forget Ry', Marik is coming over later."

"You invited Marik over?"

"Yeah, because his _oh-so-lovely_ brother over there is kicking him out later and he has nowhere else to go," Bakura said with some hostility in his voice towards Melvin.

"That's actually…a really nice thing to do…" Ryou blinked. His brother was smiling _and _being nice? He definitely liked Marik.

"Thanks again Baku!" Marik said, beaming at Bakura.

"Stop saying thank you! You've said it at least three times now, it's bloody annoying," Bakura said, directing his attention back onto Marik.

"It's not like you do something nice everyday – I have to make the most of it, you know?" Marik said.

"By thanking me every five minutes? Can't you think of something else to do?" Bakura said in an exasperated tone.

"What's so bad about me thanking you?" Marik questioned.

"It's just bloody irritating!"

Marik smirked as his face lit up in realisation, "I get it now! You're not used to people saying thank you, so you feel out of your comfort zone when you hear it!"

Bakura snorted. "That's the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard."

"You know it's true."

"No it isn't"

"Yes it is, don't deny it Baku'."

"Shut up Marik."

"Thank you."

"What?"

"Thank you!" Marik said again in a sing-song voice.

"Stop it."

"No. Thank you!"

Bakura growled at Marik's childish behaviour.

"See? I knew I was right!" Marik said with a smug grin. Bakura glared at him, before kicking him in the shin under the table.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"I told you to stop it," Bakura said, smirking.

Marik pouted and reached under the table to rub his injury, "Friggin' meanie."

"Did you just call me a meanie?" Bakura asked, quirking his eyebrow at the childish insult.

"Um…maybe…"

Bakura burst out laughing, "Is that the best insult you can come up with?"

"Shut up! As if you could come up with something better!"

"I could, but I'm not going to."

"Because you can't, right?" Marik said cockily.

Bakura opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a cough from Melvin.

"Could you two shut up and stop flirting for just five minutes? I'm trying to eat."

Marik blushed and looked back over at Bakura, who seemed a lot closer than he was before. Neither of them had realised that throughout their argument they had been subconsciously getting closer, and so they both sat back abruptly. Bakura draped his arm over the back of his chair and cleared his throat, making Ryou giggle.

"What the bloody hell is so funny?"

"Nothing," Ryou said sweetly, although he was still beaming at his brother.

Bakura shook his head at his overly-girly brother, before taking a bite out of his sandwich.

* * *

The end of the school day came quickly, and before they knew it, Ryou and Bakura found themselves at their house. Marik had agreed to come over as soon as he was kicked out, and they had decided that they'd watch a movie to pass the time.

"You know 'Kura, it sounds a lot like you and Marik are having a date," Ryou said as they entered their house.

Bakura froze momentarily, before his usual persona took over, "A date? Don't be ridiculous Ryou."

"I'm not being ridiculous! You invited him over to watch a movie, and it'll be just the two of you, _alone_."

Bakura looked confused, "We won't be alone – you'll be with us."

"Actually… I won't be…I'm going out tonight."

"Oh, to see your _lover_, right?" Bakura teased, smirking at his brother.

Ryou blushed. "Don't try and change the subject! Just admit it Bakura, you have a crush on Marik."

Ryou was surprised to see his brothers cheeks heat up as he spoke, "I don't have a bloody crush on that bloody effeminate freak!"

"Yes you do! I'm fed up of you having too much pride to admit it! It's obvious he likes you too," Ryou said, exasperated.

"…He does?"

"Yes, he does!" Ryou felt hope rising up inside of him, perhaps Bakura was finally going to admit it!

"Well it doesn't matter because I don't have a crush on that buggaring fool, so get the idea out of your head!"

Ryou sighed – his brother was hopeless. "Okay 'Kura, if you say so."

* * *

It was around 4 o'clock when Marik knocked on the British twin's door. Ryou greeted Marik briefly, before rushing out of the door with a quick apology that he couldn't stay for longer. Marik raised an eyebrow at his behaviour, before shaking it off and walking into the living room to meet Bakura, who was sprawled out across the couch.

"Hey."

All Bakura did was grunt in reply, causing Marik to frown.

"Wow Baku', your hospitality skills are mind blowing! Please, don't move, I wouldn't want you to strain yourself," Marik said sarcastically, moving towards the other couch to sit down.

"Don't get cocky with me, Marik," Bakura growled a little bit, but it lacked its usual venom.

"You're not scary Bakura; you're about as harmless as a kitten."

"Did you just… Did you just compare me to a kitten?" Bakura asked, sitting up so he could glare properly at the Egyptian.

"Yup! Who's a cute little kitty?" Marik said in a mock high pitched voice, similar to one that would be used when talking to a baby or a puppy, "you are!"

Bakura growled louder, "Watch it, Ishtar!"

Marik started to laugh, "Oooh, did I make the kitty angry?"

Bakura didn't respond, but instead sent Marik a death-glare.

Marik's laughter started to die down, "Okay, okay! I'll stop," Marik said, but he couldn't keep the grin off of his face. "What are we watching?"

"I don't know yet, I haven't decided," Bakura said as he collapsed back down onto the couch.

"Well, are you going to help me choose?"

"No, I think you can handle that responsibility all by yourself," Bakura said sarcastically as he wiggled to make himself comfier.

Marik gave him a disbelieving look, "So you invite me over, and then expect me to do all the work?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Unbelievable…" Marik muttered to himself as he made his way over to the movie cabinet.

After a few minutes of arguing with Bakura over which movie to watch, they finally decided on a horror movie.

The time spent watching the film passed in silence due to them both being immersed in the blood and guts, and it was over in what felt like five minutes.

"Well that was good! I can't believe I've never seen that before," Marik commented as the ending credits rolled.

"I can't believe you haven't either, it's been around for a while," Bakura said, pressing the stop button on the DVD remote. "I have to say Marik; I didn't expect you to be so into gore."

"Why not?" Marik asked.

"Well, to be frank, you just look too girly. I thought you'd go crazy and demand we watch some cheesy chick-flick – not that I own any, but I'm sure there are a few in Ryou's collection."

Marik's mouth opened in shock, "I'm not girly!"

Bakura looked the Egyptian up and down. Marik almost blushed as he watched Bakura's gaze trace down his body, but he contained it – he didn't want to make a fool of himself. When Bakura was done with his analysis, he looked Marik in the eye, and lent forwards ever so slightly. "Marik, you're the girliest person I know! I would say you and Ryou tie in first place, but at least he has the decency to dress like a man."

Marik stood up and walked over to Bakura and stood in front of him with his hands on his hips. "There is nothing wrong with my outfit!"

"What kind of man puts his belly on show for the world to see?" Bakura questioned, pointing to Marik's midriff.

"An extremely sexy one, that's who!" Marik pouted.

Bakura couldn't contain his laughter; Marik looked so stupid pouting with his hands on his hips – he looked like some sort of sassy child who wasn't getting his own way.

"What the frig is so funny? I'm serious!" Marik stressed.

Bakura didn't stop laughing for a while, but eventually he straightened up enough to talk. "Sit down Marik, you look ridiculous like that."

Marik huffed, but sat down next to Bakura anyway. They sat quietly for a minute, before Marik started talking again, "One of us should get the DVD out of the machine, and by one of us I mean you."

"Why should I get it?"

"Because I put it in, it's only fair."

"And when have I ever been fair?"

Marik thought for a moment. "Good point. I guess it's just going to stay in there then."

"Yep," Bakura said whilst leaning back into the couch. He stretched his arms upwards, making his shirt roll up slightly to reveal the bottom half of his stomach.

Marik's eyes were immediately drawn to the newly revealed flesh. He felt himself start to blush, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the pale skin.

Bakura looked quizzically at the blond, before following his gaze down to his stomach. He smirked as he figured out what the Egyptian was staring at, and decided to have a little fun. He stretched again, this time more dramatically, making his shirt lift up even more. He heard Marik's breath hitch as more skin was revealed, and he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

"What's the matter, Marik? You look uncomfortable."

"I…um…I…" Marik struggled to string a sentence together, but luckily, he didn't have to as he was interrupted.

"RYOU!" a voice from upstairs called, making Bakura groan.

"Is that your Dad?" Marik asked, thankful for an escape from the surely very embarrassing conversation.

"Yes, he hasn't even realised one of his sons isn't in the house, what a great father!" Bakura said sarcastically, before shouting up to his father, "HE ISN'T HERE!"

There was a moment of silence, before a reply came, "TELL HIM TO SEE ME WHEN HE GETS BACK, FLORENCE!"

Bakura didn't bother responding and instead sighed. The man hadn't left his room all afternoon; he was getting lazier by the day!

"Why can't he just speak to you?" Marik asked, looking confused.

"I suppose he doesn't trust me as much as his precious little Ryou," Bakura spat. "Speaking of Ryou, I wonder if he's going to stay out all night tonight, again."

"I know how you feel, I wonder if Melvin's going to actually text me to come home tonight," Marik said without thinking.

"What do you mean? He's done this before?"

"Yeah, yesterday he made me leave and told me he'd text me to tell me when I could come back, but he never did."

"That's funny, Ryou stayed out really late last night too…wait," Bakura said, looking as if something had just occurred to him, "hold on a second…"

"Um…what's wrong?"

"It's obvious that Ryou's in a relationship – the evidence is on him, after all, and Melvin kicks you out at the same time Ryou leaves…" Bakura seemed to be getting angrier with each word, and it was then Marik realised what he had said.

"No, Bakura! I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong!"

"How do you know I'm wrong?"

"Because… I-I…I just do!" Marik was starting to panic.

"I know I'm right, your reaction just told me everything I needed to know." By this point Bakura was fuming, he stood up and stomped towards his coat, pulling it on and heading for the door. "I'm going to _fucking kill him_!" he snarled, before opening the door and storming out, leaving a very worried Marik behind.

_Oh frig, what am I going to do?_ Marik pulled out his phone, and sent Ryou a quick text as warning. All he could do was hope that Ryou read it before Bakura arrived.

* * *

**A/N: There's no fooling Bakura! I'm so excited to write the next chapter, it should be very action packed!**

**See you guys soon!**


	24. Why Do You Hate Him?

**A/N: Finally this chapter is done! I've re-wrote this so many times, and I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I hope it's okay for you all!**

* * *

Melvin sat on the couch with Ryou's head resting in his lap. He stroked through the silky, white locks as they watched the television – although neither of them were paying attention. Melvin was focused on the boy laying on him, and Ryou was worrying about the situation with his brother. He had decided to tell Bakura by the end of the week, but he just couldn't figure out how to. So far the only thing he could come up with was to just sit him down and explain what was going on, but he knew that wouldn't end well. The problem was he didn't have an alternative solution. He let out a frustrated sigh, which caught Melvin's attention.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about telling Bakura…"

"Again?" Melvin asked.

"Yeah…"

"You shouldn't worry about it so much, Bakura won't be happy when he finds out, but when is he ever happy about anything?"

Ryou smiled and sat up, looking at his boyfriend with worry on his face, "But what if he hates me because of this?"

Melvin stared at Ryou for a moment, thinking carefully about his reply before saying, "If he does, he'll get over it."

"How can you be so sure about it?" Ryou questioned.

"He's your brother; he couldn't hate you for too long. Plus he wouldn't be able to; you do everything for him, the lazy bastard…" Melvin mumbled the last part to himself, earning a small frown from Ryou.

"Why do you hate my brother so much?"

The question took Melvin by surprise. "Isn't that obvious?"

"No, not really."

"Well, it's mainly the fact he's so disgusted by the thought of us being together. He's so fucking over-protective of you, it's irritating! Aren't you the elder twin anyway? Aren't you supposed to be over-protective of him, not the other way around?"

Ryou nodded his head in realisation, white strands of hair blocking his face from view as he stared at the couch. "I don't know why he's like that… I wish I did, but I can't think of a proper reason."

Melvin snorted, "Like he needs a proper reason to be an asshole."

Ryou smiled, but it wasn't filled with his usual brightness. Melvin glanced at the Brit and saw how fragile he looked. He brushed back the white hair covering his eyes, and took Ryou into his arms. Ryou wrapped his arms around Melvin's neck, relaxing into the warmth and comfort his boyfriend was offering. They held each other for a moment, being content in each other's company, before Melvin spoke again.

"Just because your brother and I don't get on very well doesn't mean he will hate you for being my boyfriend."

Ryou sighed, "But what if he does? I don't want to lose Bakura, but I don't want to lose you either…"

"Like I said earlier, he won't hate you forever. You won't lose either of us," Melvin said, his voice soft as he cradled Ryou on his lap.

Ryou looked at the Egyptian with a small, genuine smile. Melvin leant down and connected their lips together gently. Their lips moved together, the kiss growing more passionate with each second as their tongues familiarised themselves with each other once more.

Ryou pulled away first. His cheeks were tinted red as he stared into Melvin's dark mauve eyes. He knew he would get lost in their hypnotic depths if he didn't look away soon, so he reluctantly tore his gaze away and snuggled down into the couch, his legs draped across Melvin's lap.

They were just getting comfortable, when Ryou's phone vibrated on the table, the irritating racket being amplified because of the hard wooden surface. Ryou sighed as he sat up, reaching an arm out to grab his phone. He was stopped as a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist, pulling him against a strong, firm torso.

"Leave it; it's probably not important," Melvin whispered, his lips next Ryou's ear, sending a shiver down his spine. He was tempted to lie back down in the Egyptians arms, but he knew he had to answer his phone.

"What if it's an emergency? I can't just leave it," he said, wriggling out of Melvin's grip to stand up. He picked his phone up off of the coffee table, and looked at who it was from.

"It's from Marik, I wonder what he wants," he pondered out loud, before opening the text. He read through the message once, and in an instant his smile vanished, his eyes grew wide and he paled noticeably.

"Ryou? What does it say?" Melvin asked, looking worried.

Ryou's eyes re-read the message again and again, making sure he hadn't interpreted it wrong. Eventually, he managed to tear himself away from the screen to look at Melvin, his eyes full of confusion and alarm.

"Ryou," Melvin pressed on, trying to get the smaller boy to speak, "what does it say?"

Ryou swallowed before answering, speaking the words he had memorised in his mind. "It says 'Bakura is on his way over, I'm sorry'."

Melvin's eye hardened, "It's official, my brothers an idiot."

"I don't understand…how does Marik know… Did you tell him?" Ryou questioned, his expression hurt – he didn't want to think Melvin would betray him like this.

"Of course I didn't! He happened to walk in on us in a…compromising position. I didn't tell you because I knew you didn't want anyone to know," Melvin said in his own defence.

"But why would Marik tell Bakura… surely he knows how he would react?"

"Like I said, my brother's an idiot. He probably let too much information slip or something, you know how bad he has it for your brother," Melvin spat. He was really pissed off with Marik, could the stupid brat not keep his mouth shut?

"I need to hide!" Ryou suddenly exclaimed, looking around the room frantically.

"You can't be serious," Melvin said, giving Ryou a disbelieving look.

"Of course I am! My brother will be here any minute, I can't leave in case he's outside and he sees me, so I need to hide!" Ryou said in a hurry, his voice high pitched in alarm.

"I don't think you should avoid this, Ryou," Melvin said, looking completely calm as he sprawled out on the couch.

"Are you insane?!"

"Yes," Melvin answered nonchalantly.

"I can't let Bakura find out!"

"He would have to find out sooner or later, why not now?"

"Because…Because I just can't!" Ryou was becoming more and more panicked with each passing second.

"That isn't a good enough reason, and anyway, I'll be here with you."

Ryou opened his mouth to argue, when he was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR, YOU BLOODY WANKER!" Bakura's angry shouts rang through the house. Ryou's stomach dropped, and he suddenly felt very sick – this wasn't going to end well.

"Relax," Melvin said as he stood up, "everything will be fine."

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm going to let your _oh-so-charming_ brother in, of course," Melvin said, sounding far too giddy for the situation. Ryou watched Melvin leave, and sank down into the couch, letting a whimper escape his lips. This was going to end horribly, he knew it.

Melvin entered the hallway in time to be greeted with another round of bangs from Bakura. He growled in the back of his throat – despite the fact he had acted calm around Ryou, he was extremely pissed off, and each knock was only serving to aggravate him further. He unlocked the door quickly, and came face to face with an equally angry Bakura.

"Ah Bakura, what a lovely surprise," he said in a mockingly cheerful tone. Bakura's eyes became dangerous slits as he stared at the Egyptian, looking a mix between disgust and hate. He shoved past Melvin and entered the house, looking around the hallway in the same frantic way as Ryou had been doing just moments before.

"Where is he?"

"Where's who?"

"Ryou! Where the fuck is he?" Bakura spat.

Melvin sneered at him, "Why does it matter to you?"

Bakura stopped his searching to glare at Melvin, before punching him in the jaw hard enough to bruise, "Because he's my fucking brother!"

Melvin staggered backwards from the unexpected blow, and clutched his face in his hands. Bakura sensed his advantage, and kneed the Egyptian in the stomach, making him double over.

Melvin coughed as he gripped his stomach. He stayed bent over for a moment, before he straightened up and scowled – if looks could kill, Bakura would have been lying dead on the floor. He saw another fist aiming for his face, and quickly grabbed it before it hit, sending one directly back at the white haired male. There was a cracking sound, and Melvin was satisfied to see blood trickling from Bakura's nose.

Bakura licked the crimson liquid from his lip, seeming unfazed in his rage. He tore his hand from Melvin's grip and punched him in the ribs.

They both heard the soft footsteps quickly making their way into the hallway, but neither stopped their fighting to see who it was.

Ryou gasped at the scene in front of him, tears welling in his eyes. He knew nothing good would come of this! "Stop it! Please!" he pleaded.

It seemed to have the desired effect as both of them ceased their fighting to finally look at the new arrival. Bakura walked over to his brother and roughly grabbed his arm. "We're leaving."

Ryou's eyes widened in surprise, before he started to struggle in his brother's iron grip, "No we're not!"

"Yes, we are," Bakura said in an icily cold tone as he started to walk them towards the door.

Ryou fought harder, before he finally removed his arms from Bakura's hand, "No, I'm not leaving!"

"Ryou, snap out of it, you can't seriously want to stay here," Bakura said, looking around the house in disdain.

"He said he isn't leaving, what the fuck is your problem?" Melvin growled, wrapping his arms around Ryou's waist in a protective hug.

"You're my problem! I knew you were trouble the moment I met you, and now you've corrupted my brother, and I will not stand for it!" Bakura snapped.

"He hasn't corrupted me!" Ryou said, looking at Bakura with a hurt expression, "I'm the happiest I've ever been with Melvin!"

"We were doing perfectly fine until he showed up!" Bakura roared. He was beginning to lose his patience.

"You might have been, but I was lonely! I had no friends aside from you, and you hardly ever spoke to me!" Ryou said, raising his voice slightly, "and now I have somebody in my life that I love, and I don't understand why you want to take that away from me!"

Bakura's jaw dropped as he stared at his brother – even Melvin looked a little startled. "You… you _love_ him?"

Ryou turned so he could smile up at the Egyptian. He rested his hands on the tanned ones encircling his waist as he spoke, "Yes, I do."

Melvin's face split into a grin. He leant down and captured Ryou's lips in a quick, gentle kiss, before whispering in his ear, "I love you too."

Ryou beamed. He turned to look at his brother, and his heart sank at the expression. Bakura was hurt. He knew he would be, and that's why he wanted to do this differently.

"I see," Bakura said in a monotonous voice. He turned around and made to leave, only stopping briefly when he heard Ryou shout.

"Bakura! I didn't want you to find out like this! I-I'm sorry!"

Bakura ignored him and walked out of the door, shutting it with a loud bang behind him.

Ryou stared at the door, sorrow filling his chocolate brown eyes. Melvin's arms tightened around his waist, holding him closely to his chest. Ryou turned around to face him, and wrapped his arms around his neck, returning the embrace.

"He'll come around Ryou, he just needs time to think," Melvin said in an attempt to comfort his boyfriend.

All he got in return was a whimper, which made him hold the smaller boy tighter than he already was.

They stood in the hallway for a while whilst Ryou took comfort in his boyfriend's embrace, before they heard the door open. Ryou spun around immediately, hoping desperately that it was his brother. When he saw who it was, however, his expression dropped.

"Hello Marik," Ryou said in a surprisingly cold tone.

Marik winced, taking in the state of his brother and his best friend. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to say anything! I didn't really say anything obvious; he just kind of put two and two together…"

"Stop apologising, the damage has already been done," Melvin said.

"I take it Bakura's already been here…" Marik said more to himself than to anyone else. He stared at the ground for a long while, concentrating hard on one particular spot, before he snapped his head up. "I'm going to sort this out!" he said as he strode out of the door with determination.

Marik practically ran back to the British twins' house – he needed to catch Bakura as soon as possible, before he did anything stupid.

He didn't bother to knock on the door, and instead barged into the house. "Bakura!" he called, running to the living room.

He opened the door, and froze in his steps.

"Um… hi?" he said uncertainly as he came face to face with Bakura's father.

Said man raised an eyebrow, "Who are you?"

"I'm Marik… I'm friends with your sons."

"I see," he said, "and may I ask what you're doing here?"

"I'm looking for Bakura, is he here?" Marik said, peering into the living room to see if Bakura was in there.

"No, I haven't seen him all day, why?"

Marik ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh of frustration, "Oh gods, this isn't good."

"Marik, why are you looking for Bakura?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the Egyptians odd behaviour.

"I need to find him! He found out about Ryou and Melvin being a couple together and he got really angry and it's all my fault and I need to find him to calm him down and oh gods this is all just one big huge mess!" Marik said quickly. "Do you have any idea where he could be?"

Bakura's father stared at the space behind Marik for a moment, taking in all of the information he had just received, before he seemed to remember the other boy's presence. "Well, Bakura would always go and sit in the park back home when he was upset or angry, perhaps you should try there?"

Marik's face lit up, "Thank you!" he said as he turned around to run out of the door.

"Wait!" he called after Marik, "what did you say about my boy and that Melvin person?"

Marik paused for a second, "They're boyfriends!" he said, before running out of the door with a quick call of, "Thank you again, Sir!"

He ran back outside, quickly thinking in his mind where the nearest park would be, and running in that direction. He prayed to whatever god was listening that he would find Bakura, he needed to sort this out – he owed Ryou that much.

He quickly arrived in the park, and he scanned his eyes over the expanse of grass for a head of white hair. He ran further down into the park, calling Bakura's name as loudly as he could.

"What?" a rough, British voice sounded behind him, making Marik jump. He turned around to see Bakura sat on a bench, his arms folded as he scowled in his general direction.

"Hey…" Marik said lamely.

Bakura snorted at Marik's greeting, but stayed silent. Marik cautiously sat down next to the Brit, trying to ignore how awkward the current situation was.

"So… how are you?"

Bakura turned his head slightly to look at Marik, "How the bloody hell do you think I am?"

"Sorry… stupid question," Marik said, looking at his lap to avoid Bakura's piercing gaze. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

"Does it bloody look like I want to talk about it?!" Bakura yelled, causing Marik to wince.

"Sorry…" he said quietly.

"Stop bloody apologising!" Bakura said in exasperation.

Marik stayed silent for a moment, before a thought occurred to him. "Can I just ask… why do you hate my brother so much?"

"I thought that would be obvious," Bakura said, leaning back and looking at Marik fully.

"Well, not really, I know you don't like him being around Ryou, but I don't understand why," Marik said honestly – it had baffled him for quite a while now.

"I just don't know who that bastard thinks he is! Ryou and I were perfectly happy before he came and fucked everything up! That's why I hate him!" Bakura said, his voice growing in volume with every word. Everything suddenly became clear to Marik. Bakura was afraid of being alone – he didn't want Melvin near Ryou in case he stole him away. Marik's heart sank at the thought, he honestly thought Bakura had an irrational reason for disliking Melvin, but everything made sense now.

"He's not going to steal Ryou away from you," he said softly.

Bakura lowered his head, "You don't know that for sure…"

Marik's eyes softened – he'd never seen Bakura this vulnerable before. "You're not going to be alone Bakura."

"You think something as petty as being alone would bother me?" Bakura scoffed, but Marik could see through it.

"I don't think so, I know so," he said, hesitantly putting a comforting hand on the Brit's shoulder. Bakura tensed under his touch, panicking Marik. He was about to remove his hand, when he felt Bakura relax underneath his palm. He smiled to himself, knowing Bakura was letting his barriers down. "You won't be alone, Bakura."

Bakura sighed, "You don't know that for sure…"

"I do, I'll always be here."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, "And what makes you think I want you?"

Marik's expression fell – he looked heart broken, "I…w-well… I…"

Bakura watched Marik trip over his words for a while, before he bent over and burst into peals raucous of laughter, "Bloody hell, you're easy to wind up."

Marik pouted when he realised what had just happened, "I was trying to cheer you up, you ungrateful bastard!" he said, hitting Bakura's arm playfully.

"Well, you succeeded," Bakura said once his laughter calmed down. He sat back against the bench again, and actually looked considerably happier than he had done before. Marik couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips; he had actually managed to cheer Bakura up – he didn't think such a thing was possible!

Marik glanced over at the Brit, and jumped a little when he saw those fiery brown eyes staring back at him. He shifted under the powerful gaze, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the intense look he was receiving. Bakura's expression looked far away, but his features kept changing ever so slightly every few moments – it was almost as if he was having an inner debate with himself. Marik was going to ask what was wrong, when Bakura spoke up.

"Um…Marik… I… thank you," he said quickly, obviously not used to giving thanks for anything.

"It's alright, but I'm curious. Is that the only reason you hate my brother?" He had to ask – if this was going to be resolved properly he needed to know every detail.

"Apart from the fact he's annoying as fuck, yes, that's the only reason…" Bakura said.

Marik chuckled, "But seriously, Ryou won't abandon you, Bakura. He loves his family too much to do that. And I did mean what I said; I'll always be your friend."

"You sound really cheesy, you know that, right?" Bakura said, a smile threatening to form on his lips.

"I know," Marik grinned, and Bakura was speechless for a moment. The moonlight shone on the Egyptian's face, making his violet eyes glisten and sparkle as he beamed up at Bakura. That same stupid feeling was back in his stomach, and for the first time he had an inclining as to what it was. The thought caught him off guard, and before he was fully aware of what he was doing, he was leaning forwards, heading straight for the Egyptian's supple lips.

"B-Bakura…? What are you-" Marik started, but was cut off as Bakura's lips pressed against his own. He was startled at first – he didn't think Bakura would ever do something like this! But once what was happening fully dawned on him, he let his eyes slide shut as his mouth moved against the Brit's.

Bakura suddenly pulled away, making Marik even more confused. He looked at the floor, avoiding all eye contact with the Egyptian, "I… don't know why I just did that…" He thought for a moment – why did he just do that? Sure, he had just figured out he was somewhat attracted to Marik, but kissing him was never in the plan. Then again, he did kiss back, didn't he? Perhaps Marik enjoyed it just as much as he did. The thought made him smirk. He sat up again, locking eyes with the Egyptian – who looked confused, and slightly embarrassed. "Although," he said with a slight purr to his voice, "I did rather enjoy it." And with that said, he grabbed Marik by the front of his shirt, and pulled him forwards, smashing their lips together roughly.

Marik didn't hesitate this time. He participated with just as much passion as Bakura, opening his mouth to allow the Brit's tongue to rub against his own. He wrapped his arms around the pale neck, and fisted his hands in the white tresses. Bakura's own arms wound around Marik's body, bringing them as close as he possibly could.

When they parted this time, neither of them were as embarrassed as they previously had been. They still held onto each other, replaying what exactly had just happened over in their minds.

"Does this mean that you…urm… sort of like me?" Marik asked, trying to ignore how awkward it sounded.

"No, Marik. I just made out with you because I hate you and I never want to see you again," Bakura deadpanned, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, damn," Marik said, his voice amused, "I guess I'll just have to find someone else to snog. Such a shame, you're actually alright at it," he finished with a wink.

"Alright?" Bakura scoffed, "You should feel privileged I let your inexperienced lips snog such an amazing kisser as myself," he said arrogantly.

"Hey! I am not inexperienced!" Marik said, offended.

"Of course you aren't," Bakura replied, not believing Marik at all.

"I am not! I'll let you know I had tons of girls chasing after me in Egypt!" Marik defended himself.

"I don't doubt that, I mean, look at you," Bakura smirked, looking Marik up and down, "all of that revealing clothing is bound to catch any sluts attention, but that doesn't mean you had the balls to do anything with them."

"How dare you! I've kissed girls before! Just ask Melvin, he'll back me up!"

"You know, I will ask him, just to prove you wrong."

Marik grinned, "Does this mean you're going to try and make friends with Melvin?" he asked hopefully.

"Friends might be a bit ambitious, but I suppose I'll have to try and be civil with him, for Ryou's sake," Bakura answered with a scowl.

"Great! Speaking of Ryou, go home and apologise to him," Marik commanded.

"Who put you in charge?" Bakura questioned.

"I did," Marik said, his grin stretching, "now go home and make up with your brother!"

Bakura rolled his eyes, "Yes mum," he said mockingly, but removed his arms from around Marik's waist and got up nonetheless. He really did need to patch things up with his brother, whether he liked his relationship with Melvin or not.

* * *

**A/N: The next chapter will show what Ryou and Melvin do next, and it's also the final chapter! (excluding the epilogue)... well... as long as I don't change my mind again... I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to change things a lot... **

**But yes, I do hope you enjoyed this!**


	25. Don't You Ever Come Back

**A/N: Yay for being on time! And yay for this being the last chapter! As always, I hope this is alright for you all :)**

* * *

Ryou spent the rest of the evening sat on the Ishtar's couch being comforted by Melvin. He couldn't believe what had happened – his worst nightmare had come true, and there was nothing he could do to fix it. He had considered apologising, but he doubted Bakura would even look at him, never mind listen to him. Melvin kept telling him that his brother would forgive him eventually, but he wasn't so sure. He had seen the hurt in Bakura's eyes before he left. The last time he had seen his brother that vulnerable was the night their mother died, which worried Ryou immensely. If Bakura was that upset with him, he doubted he would ever be forgiven.

Melvin had offered for Ryou to stay over for the night, but Ryou declined. As much he would have loved to, he knew hiding from his brother would only make the situation a lot worse than it already was. He just wished that everything would go back to the way it was before. All he could do was hope that Marik hadn't made things worse when he'd left to talk to Bakura…

Ryou unlocked the door and was greeted with silence. He hung his coat up in the hallway, and cautiously made his way over to the living room. He wasn't sure what he was going to say if he saw Bakura, but he knew he had to do something, regardless as to whether Bakura would respond or not.

Thankfully, his worrying was cut short when he entered the living room to find his father, and not his brother.

"Hi dad," he said as he sat down on the couch opposite his father.

"Hello Ryou," his father said in a serious tone, never taking his eyes off of his son as Ryou sat down. "Where have you been?"

"At a friend's house," Ryou said, oblivious to his father's tone.

"I see," his father replied, nodding his head slightly before speaking again. "And who was this friend, exactly?"

Ryou suddenly picked up on the atmosphere in the room. He looked timidly towards his father, and saw the stony expression on his face – his father didn't look happy at all. "Um… Melvin Ishtar…" he said unsurely.

His father's eyes glazed over and turned colder than Ryou could have imagined. He didn't know why he was acting like this, but he had a feeling he would find out soon.

"Ahh, yes, Melvin," his father mused, turning to lock eyes with his son, "tell me Ryou, when were you planning on telling me about the little affair you have with that _boy_?" His father spat the word like it was a bad taste in his mouth he couldn't wait to get rid of.

Ryou stared in shock, how did his father know?! His father seemed to pick up on his panic, as he began to speak again.

"Confused about how I know?" he asked, speaking the very question that was on Ryou's mind. "You have your friend Marik to thank for that." At Ryou's even more confused face, he decided to elaborate. "He burst in here earlier in quite the panic looking for your brother, saying something about having to fix the situation because Bakura found out about your little relationship. I'll ask again Ryou, when were you planning on telling me?"

Ryou could do nothing but stare. What could he tell his father? He would have told him sooner, the only reason he didn't was because he didn't want Bakura to find out. Of course his father would be angry! "I'm sorry, dad, I should have told you sooner. It's just… Bakura doesn't like Melvin very much, and I wasn't quite prepared to tell him yet… so we didn't tell anyone…"

"Ahh, I understand now," his father said, his face brightening up a bit. "Now that you've proved your point, you can dump that boy and we can all move along nicely."

Ryou felt his jaw drop, "W-what?"

"You heard me, Ryou," his father said, all seriousness back in his voice, "you can stop pretending to like that boy now. We both know you're too smart to be one of those disgusting faggots."

Ryou felt his heart shatter into a thousand pieces as his father spoke the words he never wanted to hear again. "D-dad… you… you can't be serious?"

"Deadly. Now stop with the act, it's pathetic," his father almost growled, his tone dangerous.

"I-I… it's not an act," Ryou said, trying to keep his voice as firm as possible.

His father's eyes hardened as he turned his icy cold stare on Ryou, making said boy apprehensive as to what was going to happen next. "Do not lie to me boy."

"I'm not lying!" he almost yelled, not understanding what was wrong with his father.

"Yes you are!" his father roared back at him, making Ryou whimper out of fear. "You are not gay! No son of mine is gay!"

Ryou wanted to sink into the couch and hide. The memories of his encounter with Ushio came flooding back to him, fogging over his mind with a cloud of terror and anxiety. He had thought his problems were over, and he especially didn't think his father would be adding to them, but he was wrong. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't lie to his father and say he was pretending, but who knows what would happen if he kept telling the truth. In the end, he decided the lies had gotten him into too much of a mess already, so he would have to stick with the truth, no matter what the consequence. "Dad, please listen to me… I'm not lying…"

His father growled loudly out of rage, before back handing Ryou across the face, sending him crashing down to the floor from the force. "YOU'RE NOT GAY! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"

Ryou moved his hand to cradle his bright red cheek as he lay on the floor, looking at his father with wide, scared eyes. He couldn't make any words leave his lips – he was too shocked. His father stood above him, clenching and unclenching his fists as he stared down at his son, seething. Ryou had never seen him so angry, and it terrified him to his core.

"Your mind has been corrupted…" his father started to mumble to himself, only just loud enough for Ryou to hear. "We need to leave; we need to get you away from him."

"I-I've not been corrupted," Ryou said in a weak voice.

"Yes you have! Why else would you pretend to be gay?"

Ryou didn't know what to do, his father wasn't listening to him, and now he was talking about leaving? They couldn't just leave now! They had a good life here; he didn't want to move again…

"We're leaving, now, Pack your bags," his father commanded, staring directly into Ryou's eyes.

"N-now? We can't leave now, what about Bakura?"

"Your brother will be fine," his father said harshly, moving closer to Ryou, "we will be better off without him."

"We can't just leave him here on his own!"

"We can, and we will." He grabbed Ryou by his arm and started to drag him towards the door. "Your brother has never been worth anything, we don't need him."

Ryou gasped as he struggled in his father's grip, "B-but he's my brother! He's your son!"

"You're the only son I need, Ryou, and that's why I must take you away from here, that's why I must free you of your disease." He tightened his grip on Ryou's arm.

Ryou felt tears prickle the corners of his eyes. Why was his father acting like this? It didn't make any sense! "B-but we can't leave Bakura on his own! I can't leave him! I'm not leaving!"

"Yes you are, you're coming with me whether you want to or not."

"No I'm not!" He gave one last fierce tug, and somehow managed to break free from his father's hold. He ran to the other side of the room in a panic, not quite sure what he was going to do.

His father grumbled lowly as he watched his son get away, before walking towards him, fists shaking in anger. "Yes you are!" he shouted, before smacking Ryou in the face again.

Ryou yelped as his father's hand collided once again with his already hurt cheek. He watched as his father towered over him and raised his fist. He held his breath from fright and shut his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable impact that was sure to come – but it didn't. Slowly and cautiously, he opened his eyes, but did not see his father. He panicked – what was his father planning to do? He looked around to try and spot him, and the sight before him made his heart fill with both relief and worry.

Bakura had their father pressed against the wall, his hands clutched in the man's white shirt, creasing the fabric. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" he growled, pressing his father harder into the wall.

"That's no way to address your father, Florence," their father said coolly, not sounding threatened by his son at all.

Bakura snarled and slammed his father backwards, "Answer my question, you piece of shit!"

"I don't need to answer your questions, son. I'm your father and you will do as I say, now let me go – I need to rid your brother of his illness."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, but did not loosen his grip on his father's shirt, "What illness?"

"I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, Florence, you seem to be acquainted with this Melvin boy our Ryou has been associating with."

Realisation dawned on Bakura, and his anger bubbled up again. "_You were beating him, because he's gay?_"

"He needs to drop the act!" his father spat, eyes lighting up with anger. "No son of mine is gay!"

"Well I'm sorry to have to say this daddy dearest, but both of your sons are gay," Bakura said sarcastically with a smirk.

His father glared at him, his voice taking on a dangerous tone, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Bakura said, unfazed by his father.

"I'm not surprised; you were always a let-down, a mistake. Your mother and I only wanted one son, you weren't supposed to happen," his father began, venom filling his voice, "and now that you've corrupted Ryou, I must take him away to cleanse him from your disease."

Bakura saw red. He removed his hands from his father's shirt, and moved them to his throat, squeezing his windpipe with all the strength he could muster. "You're not taking him anywhere, he's better off without you – we both are."

"I will take him where I please! He needs me!" his father managed to choke out.

"We've never needed you; we've survived this long without you! I never wanted to see your face again. Why did you bother coming back?"

"I-I came to see my sons!"

"Bullshit! You never used to visit us before, why now?" Bakura tightened his grip, hoping that would entice their father into spilling the beans. "If you tell me I'll let you go."

"I owe you nothing!"

Bakura growled, "You owe us for abandoning us, why are you really here?!"

Their father began to cough, his face turning red from the pressure, "Alright! I'll tell you!"

Bakura gave himself a satisfied grin, before loosening his hold on his father's throat – all though not all of the way.

"I got caught stealing some of the antiques we dug up in Egypt and I was fired. I needed somewhere to stay, and where's better than with my own family? But now I see I left you in a worse state than I thought. I need to fix this, and I'm going to do it by taking Ryou away from you," their father said, his voice hoarse.

"I'm not leaving!" Ryou piped up for the first time since he had realised Bakura was there. He stood by his brother, pinning his father with a glare.

"Yes you are! You need to be taken away from the bad influence!"

"But there are no bad influences! If you really cared for me, you would let me do what makes me happy…" Ryou said in a small voice, his eyes sad.

"This will make you happy!" their father said, trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "this is what you want!"

"No," Bakura growled, "it's what you want! Don't you see Ryou? He doesn't really care for you, he just wants a slave to cook and clean for him, like you have been for the past few weeks."

"That's not true! I do care for you Ryou! I do!" their father almost pleaded.

"No you don't…" Ryou said, his voice low and filled with sadness, "you never have, have you?"

"Yes I have!"

"No you haven't! What kind of caring father hits his son?!" Bakura yelled.

Their father's patience had finally reached its end, "You know what? Forget it! I've had enough of the both of you! You're more trouble than you're worth!"

"If that's how you feel, leave! Neither of us needs you! Go on, piss off!" Bakura roared, throwing his father in the direction of the door.

Said man stood up and brushed himself off before heading towards the doorway with a final shout of, "I hope you rot in hell, you disgusting faggots."

Bakura lunged forwards, but was stopped as Ryou grabbed the back of his shirt, keeping him in place. "Let him go," he said, his voice holding no emotion.

They heard the door slam shut, and Ryou sank down to the floor, running a hand through his hair. Bakura sat down beside him and placed an arm around his brother.

"I'm sorry… I should have believed you…" Ryou whispered as he rested his head against his brother's shoulder.

"It's not your fault our father's a psychopath," Bakura said, resting his chin on his brother's head. "Speaking of psychopaths, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it…"

Ryou raised his head in surprise, looking straight into his brother's eyes. "If anyone should be apologising, it's me! I should have told you sooner!"

"Let's just forget about it, okay? I'm not exactly ecstatic about it, but I can live with it, as long as I don't have to see you two kissing or anything."

Ryou giggled a little bit, and smiled for the first time since he had returned home. Perhaps things were going to be alright, after all.

* * *

The next day their father knocked on the door, asking for his stuff. Bakura chucked it at him none too gracefully, before telling him to piss off out of their lives forever. Their father made a comment about going back to England to start again, and that they didn't need to worry about seeing him, which relieved them both.

When they reached school, they had planned to explain to Marik and Melvin what had happened, but didn't get a chance to until lunch.

"Oh my God!" Marik exclaimed, looking between the two British brothers with worry on his face, "are you two okay?"

"We're fine now," Ryou explained. "I just can't believe our father would be like that…"

"If he ever touches you again, I'll kill him," Melvin mumbled protectively, instinctively wrapping an arm around Ryou, before remembering Bakura was there and retracting his arm.

Bakura rolled his eyes, "Touch him if you want, I don't care."

Melvin raised an eyebrow, "You've certainly changed your tune."

"Yes, well," Bakura said, his eyes flickering over towards Marik, "I had some gentle persuasion that helped me see that perhaps, you being with my brother isn't the worst thing in the world." He sent a wink Marik's way, and said Egyptian blushed.

"Oh for the love of God, will you two just kiss and get it over with! You're driving me crazy with your constant flirting!" Melvin whined.

Bakura grinned as he turned to face Marik. "Okay," was all he said before he grabbed the Egyptian by his lavender hoodie and crashed their lips together.

Melvin and Ryou looked at the two of them in shock as Marik wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck, and Bakura's hands rested on his tanned hips – they definitely weren't expecting that to happen.

When they eventually parted, they both sent their brothers wide grins – Bakura's more of a smirk than anything else.

"Well, that was easy…I didn't expect you to actually do it, you know," Melvin commented, staring at the two in disbelief.

"I can be quite spontaneous," Bakura said arrogantly, earning a whack on the shoulder from Marik.

"Don't lie to them, Baku'! We actually… we got together last night, when I went to try and fix the mess I'd created," Marik said sheepishly, "sorry about that again, Ryou."

"That's perfectly alright Marik, it's all in the past now!" Ryou said, beaming at the two of them, "congratulations guys!"

"Just try to keep the noise down, I don't want you to disturb mine and Ryou's _alone time,_" Melvin purred, causing Ryou to blush.

"Just because I'm tolerating you being in a relationship with my brother, doesn't mean I want to hear about what you do in your spare time together," Bakura grumbled, making Melvin laugh.

"As long as I don't hear about what you do to my brother, I think we'll be just fine," Melvin agreed, making Marik frown.

"What do you mean what he does to me? If we're doing anything, I'll be doing it to him!"

"Of course you will, Marik," Bakura and Melvin said at the same time, making them both of them laugh raucously.

Marik pouted as he began to argue back, and despite himself, Ryou smiled. Everything was falling to place now. Yes, he was still sad about his father, but with time he knew it would be okay. He had his brother, his boyfriend and his best friend, and really, that's all he wanted. They were the only three people in the world he really cared about, and he knew that this was the beginning of something wonderful.

* * *

**A/N: Well done to everyone who guessed correctly about Papa 'Kura!**

**So yes folks, this is the last official chapter, but there is still the epilogue, so expect a lot of lighthearted flufftastic crap in the next chapter XD**


	26. Epilogue

**A/N: Well, here it is. The epilogue! But before you all start reading, I want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed and to anyone who has stuck with this story until the end! Without you guys, this story wouldn't have been here in the first place, so thank you all ever so much! I never expected to get 50 reviews - never mind over 150! So thank you :)**

* * *

Ryou awoke to the familiar sensation of arms wrapped around his tiny frame, holding him close against a broad, firm chest. He sighed contently and snuggled down against the warmth, smiling when he heard small snores coming from Melvin as he slept. Ryou was just getting comfortable, when the alarm blared out noisily on the bedside table, startling him back into reality. He groaned quietly and planted his forehead into the Egyptians bare chest, not wanting to get up.

He heard a deep chuckle, and knew Melvin was awake, "Comfy, Creampuff?"

Ryou nodded, tilting his head so he could prop his chin up on Melvin's chest instead, allowing him to look into the Egyptian's dark mauve eyes, "I don't want to get up, I'm too tired!" he whined, earning another chuckle.

"Did I tire you out too much last night?" Melvin asked with a wink.

Ryou blushed, "No! It's just, we didn't exactly go to bed early last night…"

"Not my fault you're horny."

Ryou's cheeks darkened, "Oh, shut up you!" he said, playfully hitting Melvin's shoulder. He moved his head so that it rested in the crook of the Egyptians neck and wrapped his arms around the tanned waist, lying down on his boyfriend. "Can we just stay here?"

Melvin's hands rested in the small of Ryou's back, drawing small, gentle circles into the milky flesh, "I'd love to, but we have school, remember?"

Ryou huffed, "When did you get so responsible?"

"When did you become so irresponsible?"

"You must be rubbing off on me," Ryou said with a smile.

Melvin smirked, "Oh yes, I've definitely been doing a lot of _rubbing off _on you."

Ryou groaned, burying his head in Melvin's chest from embarrassment.

Melvin chuckled again, before sitting upwards, "We really do need to get up though."

Ryou rolled off of his boyfriend and stretched as he yawned, before slipping from under the covers. Melvin watched his boyfriend saunter over to the door, looking up and down his lithe form with hungry eyes until it was covered by a fluffy blue dressing gown.

Ryou turned around and saw the lustful gaze, making him smile. He walked back over to Melvin, pecking him softly on the lips before going to the door again. "I'll start making breakfast whilst you get ready, okay?"

Melvin nodded, and Ryou closed the door. He was about to head downstairs when something occurred to him – he should probably wake Bakura up, too. He changed direction and made his way to his brother's door, knocking rapidly to make sure he was heard. There was some shuffling from the other side of the door, and Ryou wasn't too surprised when Marik answered instead of his brother.

"Good morning Marik!" Ryou chirped with a grin.

Marik only grunted at him in response. He looked exhausted! His hair was pointed in all kinds of crazy directions, his eyes were half lidded and surrounded by dark rings, and his eye liner had smudged down his face – it wasn't a good look.

"Woah Marik, you look tired," Ryou commented with concern.

"Yeah, your wonderful brother kept me awake last night with his snoring," Marik said the last few words louder than the rest of the sentence, earning a growl from deep within the room.

"You don't have to bloody sleep with me you know," Bakura said, appearing in the door way next to Marik, surprisingly fully dressed.

Marik merely rolled his eyes, "Whatever."

Bakura couldn't help but smirk, "Oh wow, Marik, your come backs astound me."

"Oh shut up Bakura! I'm too tired to think," Marik said, wrapping around Bakura's neck and going limp, collapsing against the Brits body, his face buried in his neck. Bakura smiled before wrapping his arms securely around the Egyptians body, holding him firmly against his own.

Ryou watched the display in silence with a smile. He was glad Bakura had finally found someone that made him happy, and the two of them seemed to be perfect for each other. He noticed Bakura giving him an expectant look as he cuddled with Marik, and Ryou remembered that he was actually there for a reason.

"I was about to put the breakfast on, so come down when you're ready."

"I'm ready now, so I'll go down with you," Bakura said, trying to pry Marik off of him. Marik made a mewling noise, tightening his grip on the Brit's shoulders. "Marik, get off."

"No!" Marik cried as he tried to keep his hold on Bakura. "You're comfortable!"

The Brit gave another hard tug and successful managed to tear the Egyptian off of him. Marik pouted as he looked at Bakura, but the white haired male was too busy grimacing at his appearance to notice. "God Marik, you look awful."

Marik scoffed, "Gee, thanks Bakura!"

"No problem," Bakura winked, "now go and make yourself pretty, I'll see you downstairs."

"Fine!" Marik yelled as he stormed past Ryou and into the bathroom.

Ryou watched him leave with a worried expression. "Will he be alright?"

Bakura was staring in the direction Marik had left with a fond, distant look in his eyes and a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He was so distracted, he only vaguely realised his brother was talking.

"'Kura...?"

"Hmmm?" Bakura hummed with the still glazed over look in his eyes.

"Will Marik be alright…?" Ryou said, hoping his brother would actually answer his question.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. He's always irritable in the morning. He gets better as the day goes on," Bakura said, that same fond smile gracing his features as he thought about his Egyptian boyfriend.

Ryou grinned, "Awww! Bakura's in love!" he sang in a childish tone, bringing his brother back to reality.

"I'm not bloody in love," Bakura said, his usual frown in place.

"Yes you are!" Ryou cheered, irritating his brother. "You're so in love with Marik!"

"Bloody hell Ryou, will you shut up?" Bakura growled, walking past his brother and down the stairs.

Ryou followed quickly behind him, "Nope! I can't believe it, my big bad brother Bakura is in love!"

"Oh, frig off would you?" Bakura said in what he hoped was a menacing tone, but it only caused Ryou to burst out laughing. "What? What's so funny?"

"You're even starting to sound like him!" Ryou exclaimed through his peals of laughter.

Bakura said nothing as he walked into the kitchen. He filled the kettle up and flicked it on – he needed a cup of tea.

After the British twins had finished their routine cups of tea, Bakura decided he was in a good enough mood to talk again, "Speaking of relationships, it seems like you had fun last night."

Ryou blushed, looking at his brother in horror, "H-how did you…?"

"Oh, come on now Ryou, you're not exactly quiet. It doesn't take a fool to figure out what you were doing."

Ryou's expression turned into one of complete and utter mortification, almost his whole face turning bright red, "B-Bakura! You can't just talk about stuff like that! I-it's private! I don't talk about what you and Marik do…"

Bakura didn't answer, he just laughed at his brother expense.

"Stop tormenting my boyfriend," a deep voice sounded from the kitchen doorway. The white haired twins turned to see Melvin striding towards Ryou. He planted a kiss on the smaller boy's cheek before settling in one of the kitchen chairs.

"He's my brother, I'll torment him if I want to," Bakura said rather childishly, making Ryou pout.

"But you're making him all sad!" Melvin said as he looked as his boyfriend. He couldn't resist planting a kiss on Ryou's puckered lips, which Ryou eagerly returned.

"I don't want to see that, thanks," Bakura gagged, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Sorry 'Kura," Ryou said, giggling.

It didn't take long for Marik to come downstairs, looking his usual self and no longer scruffy.

"I got a text from Ishizu this morning, she wants the four of us to stay for dinner tonight," Marik said as he sat down.

Bakura groaned, "I thought she hated me?"

"She doesn't hate you! She's just… not too fond of you," Marik said, choosing his words carefully. "But do you blame her? After the way you told her we were together, I'm not surprised!"

"She asked, I only answered her question."

"Yes but you didn't have to answer in that much detail!"

Ryou laughed at his brother's annoyed expression, "Marik, Bakura and I would love to come over."

Marik beamed, "Great! I'll text Ishizu after breakfast!"

Ryou smiled back at him, and the four of them tucked into their breakfasts. It didn't take long for them to finish, and Ryou managed to get ready rather quickly. Before they knew it, they were heading out the door and on the way to school.

Ryou couldn't help but think how much his life had changed, and how good it had become. He was no longer lonely, and he was closer to his brother than he had ever been before! Now he got to spend almost every day with the most important people in his life, and he couldn't believe how lucky he was. But really, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. After all, the best things in life are always unexpected.

* * *

**A/N: I know, it was cheesy, but cheesy is always the best!**

**So yes, like I said in the beginning, thank you for reading :)**

**I think I should mention that I've been asked to do a thiefshipping one-shot connected to this fic (which will contain a lemon), so if anyone is interested in reading, keep your eyes pealed :D**

**If anyone is interested in what I'm going to be working on next, after the one-shot I'll be working on the sequel to What Goes On Behind Closed Doors, and then I have a supernatural thiefshipping chapter story I've been planning for awhile that I cannot wait to start writing! It'll involve super powers, fighting, angst, and thiefshipping goodness, so hopefully I'll see a few familiar faces on that story too...? (yay for self-advertising!)**

**I hope you've enjoyed the story as much as I've enjoyed writing it!**


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